AA capitole mk2 VS. Wadia 861

Inpieces the musical presentation tastes your describing would tell you to choose the Wadia 861

After reading all the comments on wadia and AA Cap. II, I wonder why nobody mentionned the Ayre D1-X player. I own one and I´m extremely satisfied - before and after modification. I listened to Wadia 861b in my home system and was very stisfied with the sound, although I choosed the D-1X as it is superior in areas such as musical flow, speed, transparency and sound stage whereas the Wadia wins in the lower frequencies. I don´t know the AA Cap II but I once had the AA Cap. MK I in my system. Very relaxed listening, impressive performance but my modified D-1X blew it away. But at US $ 5k for a used unit I would recommend the AA Cap. II strongly. Can´t comment on the 861 SE or the modified versions. Hope this helps - by the way an extremely good cdp is the Lindemann 820 SACD in Germany regarded by many as the final one box cdp. A friend of mine let his AA Cap MK I go for this machine without thinking twice.
Easy listening, Frank

I owned the AA Cap. II, and now own the APL 3910, which is much more extended, and holgraphic, with much better bass, definition, and soundstage. JMO

Inpieces: judging by the way you like yr music ("passionate"), I thoroughly recommend you try to listen to the following cdp's (one box):
*Lindemann 8?? mentioned above
*Symphonic Line (whichever model EXCEPT the cheapest)

HOWEVER, regarding dynamics, your spkrs' low sensitivity MAY restrict headroom somewhat; you must have a very heavy/lossy xover in the system. To remain on the safe side, you should restrict yourself to ~94-99 db peaks that gives you, roughly speaking, a ~20db headroom (which is excellent). The Thiel tweet is very good (I assume yr using the 12-6) but the midbass (92-6?) could increase distortion @50W.
The sonic preferences you describe sounds a lot like a a very high sensitivity single driver spkr... Cheers

On the "High-end Audio" web-site Arthur Salvatore indicates that that,according to his group of experienced audio pals,they far preffered the Wadia to the Audio Aero.Further,they felt that the Capitole was not overly reliable,in long term use.I can't understand why the LEVINSON 390's is not taken into consideration.It too has a fine pedigree,and sounds great!Any thoughts?I have heard all of the above units.They,to me,all are superb choices.