AA capitole mk2 VS. Wadia 861

Bombaywalla's comments seem too wordy, very defensive and less than helpful.
-The three people who made comments about the sound of the Wadia have heard or OWNED both and said that's what they heard upon comparison.
-He hasn't heard the Audio Aero, where others posting have heard both.
-From what he says himself, it sounds like the Wadia needs to be modded to compete...?
-Bombaywalla only compares it to a Sony 777ES and SimAudio Nova - hardly a valid comparison against good competition...
-US vs. French "signature"? Huh? Tube vs. solid state, fine, but nationality?
- no, they're not both "apples" but they're both CD players and can be compared easily and.....
- the Capitole is better!
- I've heard both and the Capitole wins. Inpieces, you needn't worry about response at any part of the frequency range. If there's a deficiency heard, you'd be better-off looking at your cables, amp, speakers and room placement.
- I will agree with one thing Bombaywalla contributed: "The best is to audition the players - a friend or a dealer - to find out what floats your boat."

ok the 861 is better than the capitol 2 in my opinion and in my system definitely the Wadia gets the timing correct to me the capitol 2 bass is little bit thicker than reality especially the upper bass if your speakers lack upper bass the capitol may be a better choice for you. the 861 can be made to sound absolutely astonishing at Great Northern sound specifically the statement upgrade

Golden_ears:

looks like you are making an attack! I tried very hard not to attack the 3 people (who posted before me) who said that the Capitole is better. There's no point in attacking these people as choice of CD player is personal (along w/ most other audio gear). Looks like you might be looking for a "fight"??

All-the-same, my post was NOT intended to be defensive at all even tho I own the Wadia 861. If it is considered to be the worse of the 2 CD players mentioned, so be it. I'm *not* going to defend my purchase of it. In my system it performs well & that's what's important to me. The AA Capitole Mk2 might be ANOTHER player that might perform well in my system? I don't know that as yet. I was trying to tow a middle line & was trying to be a bit objective on the matter by telling Inpieces what it might take to get the best out of the Wadia 861. Therein I insinuated that the people who posted before me might not have done all what it took to get the best out of the Wadia. (Sorry guys! Golden_ears dragged me into this sh**!). Pure speculation on my part as I don't know under what conditions these guys heard the 861. They haven't posted anything further so I still don't know. Very possible that they heard the 861 in an optimized setup & still preferred the Cap Mk2. So be it.

From whatever I have read, heard & communicated w/ people, I have noticed that very people have put the effort in getting the best out of the Wadia 861. Thus, most people who reject this player don't even know what it is capable of!

Golden_ears: can you share with this forum in what kind of setup you heard the Wadia 861 & compared it to the AA Cap Mk2??
Can you tell us why you preferred the AA Cap Mk2 over the Wadia 861??

2ndly: I N-E-V-E-R said "French sound"! Read my orig. post again. I said "European sound signature". Anyone who is in the hobby knows that the European gear has a different sound signature compared to US-based sound.
The comment on this leads me to believe that your ears are far from golden!

Lastly: you talk about my comments being less than helpful. Yours are worse off than mine. You provide absolutely no data re. why you consider the AA Cap mk2 to be better than the 861. No data on the setup & no data on what music you played on both machines. Just a
"I've heard both and the Capitole wins" - yeah, right!

I have owned a Wadia 301 and Audio Aero Cap MkII. Admittedly, the 861 will be a better player than the 301, but to the extent they share the same sonic signature, I prefered the Cap.

The Wadia was fast, articulate and transparent. Its problem is upper frequencies, especially on less than pristine recordings -- they are bright and aggressive, and exhibit quite a bit of smearing to my ears. I could not, for example, listen for any length of time to Joni Mitchell's voice or Coltrane's soprano sax on the Wadia. Some people don't share my view on this. As always, YMMV. In any case, Great Northern Sound Mods are supposed to eliminate these problems.

The Cap is warmer, smoother, and generally more listenable than the Wadia, but slower, with less bass impact and softer highs. It's an excellent player, and not a bad deal for the $4k or so they're going for used. On the other hand, you may want to consider even cheaper players, like the new Arcam or the Ayre CX-7. I haven't heard these players but their reviews are excellent. I'd be surprised if the 861 or the Cap is twice as good.

Of course, a $2000 analogue set up will blow them all away . . .

The 301 isn't close sounding to an 861. Drawing a conclusion from that isn't fair.

From what i've read, the AA can be more natural, the Wadia more accurate (and I owned an 861 and won't speculate on the AA despite hearing it at shows/demos numerous times).

It really is a system synergy thing.

I preferred the Linn Unidisk 1.1 to the Wadia btw...it costs a lot more as well :)