Which 3K CDP: Simaudio Nova, Ayre CX-7 Wadia 302


Unfortunately the market is saturated with many 'new' ~3K CD players, all of which are well reviewed. I have heard all 3, but do not have the opportunity to do A/B comparisons, as only the Simaudio is available where I live. It is tough to compare the 3 in your mind, when you have listened to all 3 in 3 different cities, using different electronics, speakers and in different rooms. All 3 sounded great, but without the possibility of direct comparison it is tough to choose among them.

I will likely be using them with Hovland HP200 pre vs. Simaudio P-5 pre, Simaudio LE W-5 amp, and speakers still undecided (JMlab Alto Be vs. Dynaudio Confidence C2 vs. Wilson Sophia)
thom_y
Ahhhh....I disagree with Mdp0430 quite a bit! Looks like Mdp0430 is just looking for some excuse to reject a manuf.

>>The company has changed over many times
Wrong! The company has changed hands just once! That was in year 2000.
It is probably true that their former financial ill-health had many worried about the viability of their product but I think that it is quite safe to say that Wadia is here to stay. There is an excellent post on Head-fi.org detailing a trip to their factory. Here is the link:
http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=73480.
There are more Wadia 302s on the production floor than you can shake a stick at. Wadia just moved into a new building to *expand* production! There do not seem to be any signs of Wadia going under. I have no financial numbers to prove this beyond a reasonable doubt nor can I say that this won't happen again.

Wadia products are supported by Wadia themselves & by Steve at Great Northern Sound. If Wadia fails, Steve will be able to take care of their products thereafter.

I think that it would be quite wrong to rule out Wadia in the running based on speculative info about their going under.
The Wadia products are expensive & they might not fit your budget. That is true.

I was searching for a redbook player for many months & I chose Wadia for the long-term potential that it has & the fact that their upper tier models can be upgraded & can work with other formats (DVD-A for the time-being). You can view my opinions as biased as a product owner but I can tell you that I do not want to be saddled with a product from a defunct company any more than you do.
with steve @ the great northern sound why would you have concerns with wadia gear?
not to mention, when is the last time you heard of a broken Wadia.

i've never seen it posted.
Thom_y-I can't comment on the other two CD players but I own the Ayre CX-7.

It's a great player and will work well with the type of music you like,most of which I enjoy also.
Simply put it works with all types of music from classical via Jazz to modern avant garde electronica and real heavy rock.
A newer CX-7 has some tweaks including a new transport and apparently is an improvement over the intial design.

Sounds like you are not in an ideal situation as a home dem. is always best.
If it makes you feel better the Ayre CX-7 is £3k in the UK and I live in the UK!
If you end up buying the Moon Nova, at least try to check out Nova LE version. I bought one, its REALLY nice. I have it paired with a Perreaux Radiance R200i Integrated Amp. I'm very happy with the system's sound