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Wadia think about expensive CD Players ?

Hi , I live in an area where its difficult to demo the really high end digital gear. Honestly I dont mind paying a high price for CDP Playback , but w/o a demo , Im wondering if its worth it. Let me define worth it if I may. Will a top of the Line Wadia for example sound clearly better than say a Rega , or a Sony ES. Im not expecting it to trounce it, Im just asking if you have the bucks , is the improvement clearly audible ? Im looking for warm ,detailed involving sound, my speakers are Electrostats, Amp top of the Line Sunfire. Appreciate your thoughts .
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ed_sawyer
588 posts
 
considering any player over $1000 that does NOT do SACD is a bad choice, IMHO.

The BAT VkD5 is overly warm (syrupy... yuck), to an extreme, at least the one I heard. Forget that. (as a side note, tubed CD players are the answer to the question no one is asking. Tubes are for gain stages. A CD player needs no gain stages. Why are the tubes there? harmonic flavor? noise? a 'buffer' (lame idea IMHO)....)

Under $1000, the XA7ES is hard to beat if you want CD only.

I still think the SCD-1 in the $2-3k range is a killer CD player, an epic SACD player, and ripe for mods if your tastes run in that direction.

Wadia makes some nice stuff that seems really well built, but the stability of the company leaves a lot to be desired. They seem flaky, lacking direction. They have an SACD piece supposedly coming out this fall. It will be pricey, but perhaps worthy of the coin level.

YMMV,
-Ed
vvrinc
323 posts
 
Don't buy without trying!

Warm is for me what freezing is to my wife!

Take a ride (flight) and go somewhere to listen...it'll be cheaper than a mistake.
mahandave
153 posts
 
The answer is no- With out listening in your system and knowing exactly what you need for your system, it's impossable to pick the better player by just throwing more money at it. I agree with many of the quotes above- yes $5000. players are better built than the under $2500 ones but many of those cheaper players sound much much more lively and engaging than the typical boring sound of the big bucks players. Take Ayre(3k) verses ML360(6k) for example-the ML sounds more refined but the Ayre crushes the ML in musicality and bounce. Which one do you need?? only you can tell. If you can't demo,then go cheap like the Rega or naim or Gamut/Ayre/Cary if you feel better spending more money-I do.
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,377 posts
 
I have compared different levels of players extensively. Say a Rotel 955 or NAD 302 compared to a Rega Planet, the Rega is clearly better, compare the Rega to a Wadia 860x, no contest the Wadia sounds a lot better. Now the comparison between the 2200.00 Audio Aero Prima and the Wadia 860x, to my ear the Prima is another step above the Wadia and for 1/4th the price. If you like warmth and musicality I would check into the Audio Aero gear either the Prima or the Capitole mk 2.

I very much agree with one of the above posts that your system must be up to the task of enabling the best players to show their stuff
viggen
838 posts
 
Just buy something second hand to try out then sell it if you don't like it.
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