Wadia 861i Impressions?

[mcq]

had a listen to this player this morning. First of all, the build quality of the player is absolutely astounding. It looks and feels like it was carved out of a solid block of aluminium and weighs in at around 25Kg. The rest of the demo system was a GamuT D200 original amp driving a new pair of 800Di's. To be honest, I wasn't blown away by what I heard and felt that the presentation, particulary with chamber music, was far too forward for my liking. The intimacy and spirit of the recordings that I played just werent captured. I think maybe this was down to the 800D's, at least I hope it was. The D200 probably isnt enough to drive them properly and there was also some bass boom in the room.
Obviously I need to hear it in my own system which I'll get to do in the next week or two.

The SE upgrade is no longer available for this player as the transport is not being made anymore. Teac just couldnt justify the manufacturing costs of that transport anymore.

Perhaps the speakers weren't fully broken in yet, Dave, and even though the new 800Ds are apparently easier to drive than the older models, I'd imagine they still need a bigger amp than the Gamut. You won't know for sure about the Wadia until you take it home and try it in your own system. And, despite the fact that I really rate the Wadia, if you don't like what you hear, move on and try other CD players. It's worth emphasising that the Wadia will sound different to your Resolution Audio and, if you end up preferring the Opus 21, perhaps you should try the new Cantata, the Copland CDA 825, the Audio Research CD5 or the Marantz SA-7S1. (It's a shame, by the way, that you can't get the TEAC upgrade for the Wadia anymore. It really does make a difference.)

[DaveF]

I still have high hopes that the Wadia will deliver what I want in my own system. It will be for classical music only and I'm looking to get a bit more detail from my recordings. Even the gear that I currently have sounded different in the shop than it does in my room so we'll see. Also the there was a bit of background noise coming from some roadworks on the main street this morning that was a bit distracting. The only disappointment was the chamber recordings that I played. Symphonic works did show incredibly wide dynamics and power though I suspect that was the 800D's showing off what they can do there.

[james]

Dear DaveF,

Personally I would not worry too much about the quality of the CD drive provided it is in good condition [the non SE one is probably quite good in any case]. I think the future is computer based systems so you want access to a good DAC -- so I would not buy a CD player without digital inputs [the Wadia you are looking at has them, I believe].

I have a Resolution Audio CD player and now -- most of the time -- I use it as a DAC No matter how good the CD player I would not buy one - at this stage - without it having a digital input.

But still -- you have to decide is the Wadia better than what you have and is it worth the cost. It's a lot on money.

james

PS Putting your CD's onto a hard-drive is a total pain .. particularly with classical : the metadata is the killer. [E.g I have Bernstein/Mahler on 11 CD's and the symphonies are split all over the place -- I have to think about how to rearrange them].

Also I have just had a USB disk fail and I have lost a few weeks work [from the last backup]

ends==

[james]

Reading my email its a bit unclear .. so to clarify ...

I would not worry about standard CD-drive versus SE CD-drive ...

BUT I would make sure the drive in the Wadia you are looking at is in good condition [and probably ask about spares]

But if you go the computer route you will hardly use the CD drive ...

[DaveF]

Thanks James. The computer route is no doubt the future of digital playback alright but I'm not sure if many of the classical recordings I like are available online. I havent really checked to be honest. I have to say that the idea of downloading my music or accessing it all from a hard disk is not really appealing to me. I like to have something tangible and for me there is no better experience than browsing through racks of CD's or vinyl and coming across a rare recording or gem.

[mcq]

I still have high hopes that the Wadia will deliver what I want in my own system. It will be for classical music only and I'm looking to get a bit more detail from my recordings. Even the gear that I currently have sounded different in the shop than it does in my room so we'll see. Also the there was a bit of background noise coming from some roadworks on the main street this morning that was a bit distracting. The only disappointment was the chamber recordings that I played. Symphonic works did show incredibly wide dynamics and power though I suspect that was the 800D's showing off what they can do there.

If you're looking for detail, the Wadia will dredge up all of the detail that's in the original recording, Dave. Whilst it's a full-bodied sound, it's certainly not bright and I would characterise it as being on the darker side of neutral. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the perspective the Wadia gives you is akin to a front-row seat at a concert hall whereas the Resolution Audio will give you a seat in the balcony. You really have to decide which sounds best to you with your music in your system in your room. And, by the way, with regards to chamber music, I've just spent the entire day listening to some glorious chamber music (Mozart's string quintets and Beethoven string quartets and what I heard was clarity and detail in perfect balance with warmth and intimacy. Of course, my system is different from yours and your room dimensions may be different from mine (3.9 metres by 4.1 metres), so your mileage might vary.

[james]

Dear DaveF,

I don't like downloads but what I am doing is putting all my CDs onto a harddrive [actually a NAS]. I started with a Squeezbox a year or two ago and it was a revelation .. I now have a Transporter [both Logitech] and I am just using my Resolution Audio as a DAC. When I buy a new CD I play it bit but then I think about ripping it.

The argument is that a good ripping program [e.g. Exact Audio Copy -- free -- or dBPoweramp -- about Euro 50] can be a much better digital source than a CD player that has to do real time error correction. Of course it is much more complicated. But -- if you are buying a new CD player -- leave the option of a DAC input option open. I bought the Opus 21 as a CD player and was pleasently surprised that it was also a DAC.

Of course the whole computer audio thing is a minefield -- you can get into arguments about networks [wired versus wireless], streamers, DAC's etc. Just leave yourself the option and if you want to try this out get something like a Squeezbox Classic [I think this is is no longer made but should be available secondhand for say Euro 200 ?? or less].

I would always rather buy a CD and rip it than buy a download.

james