Wadia 861 or keep Electrocompaniet mk2

dont you think Wadia a bit dynamic? I guess it shall be a good match to solid state amp instead.

I used to run direct and it was fantastic- so much speed and transparency! I have used a number of players and have listened to nearly every player that has a built in volume control. From my experience the Audio Aero Capitole mkII is king when it comes to running direct- its so musical you can listen for hours and hours on end with no fatigue. I sometimes wish I still had it- yup they are that good! The problem with wadia and accuphase is the digital volume control tends to drop bits, which ultimately is little parts of the music- its not noticeable when you've grown accustomed to listening that way(I used to use accuphase digital and thought it was great, until I heard a good analog volume control implemented) but if you get a chance to audition an analog based volume control in your system you will not believe what you were missing! All of that being said the electrocompaniet and BAT combo probably sounds pretty good- body and texture galore. You may be ahead financially to make this move and it may be more to your liking as well, you should try and arrange an audition.

You have a world class pre-amp, and IMO have no need to consider bypassing it. In my experience, doing so will cause you to lose dynamics, and, in the case of the WADIA, lose resolution as well as reduced volume comes at the expense of dropping bits. We keep yearning for more resolution ,,, SACD ,,, DVD-A ,,, Upsamplers ,,, etc - so I do not understand Wadia's scheme at all.