Any previous Wadia users?? Or did everyone move?

Hi Steve, I'm currently driving my amps directly with my Wadia 581, as I'm between preamps. I think that it had a better sound overall with the Audio Research Reference 3 preamp that I had. I'm waiting for my new Pass Labs X 0.2 preamp to arrive. However, my Wadia 581 isn't completely broken in. It has 680 hours on it. Full breakin is 750-800 hours and there is sapposed to be a marked change for the better around 750 hours. Also, the Wadia 581's volume control hasn't been up any higher than "73" driving the amps directly. I ran it on "100" with a preamp. The Wadia 581 sounds best between "85" and "100"-max. That said, I'm getting a low noisefloor with great dynamics and air. It is very clear with the best texture of instruments that I have heard in my system. The downside, since not having a preamp in the chain, is that bass, while being full and dynamic, isn't as controlled and precise as it was with a preamp. I'll know more once the Wadia and Pass are fully broken in. I do think that the voltage output can be adjusted. I'll post again as everything breaks in. I should receive the X 0.2 this coming Wednesday. Good luck. Best regards, Stan

Hello all, I have a Wadia 581 with Great Northern Sound Statement upgrade that is still breaking in. It has 450 hours on it right now. Full breakin, I have been told, is over 750 hours playing time. It has excellent texture-(the best that I have heard), very good soundstaging-(both side-to-side and front-to-back), scary dynamics, good attack and decay, excellent bass definition and is very resolute. Backround detail is the only weakness at this point. So I'd say it's off to a very good start, as it takes a long time for blackgate capacitors to burn in. Prior to this, I owned a Wadia 861se with GNS Statement upgrade--(full breakin 1000 hours) and an EMM Labs CDSA-SE--(full breakin 950 hours). Neither player sounded this good at 450 hours use. I guess that you could say that I moved on... to my second Wadia.

Hello Nsgarch, I liked the Wadia 861se with GNS Statement upgrade very much--awesome bass and backround detail, good precision. Steve @ GNS really knows how to improve an already good player. The EMM Labs CDSA-SE was the best that I have heard in the upper treble and it was very clear. The treble dynamics were spectacular, but the rest of the presentation was just OK. There was texture to individual instruments with the CDSA-SE, but not near as good as the Wadia. Another problem with the CDSA-SE was that only my newer cds sounded very good. Older cds lost clarity and soundstaging. I don't know the reason for the difference. Maybe the reason is the way that the newer vs older cds were recorded, or the way that the EMM Labs reads cds. At any rate, I researched cd players--Esoteric, Audio Research, etc., but never had a chance to actually listen to those brands, due to being so far away from an audio dealer. I also looked into an AMR CD-77 player, but there was a two month plus wait for delivery. After talking with several Wadia 581 owners, I took the Wadia plunge again. It looks like it payed off in spades... Overall, my new Wadia 581 is the best cd playback that I have had in my system... and it's not broken in completely yet.

Hello, Yes, I found out about a week ago that Wadia is now shipping the SE version. When they offer an upgrade path, I'll probably be getting it. For one thing, it's sapposed to have a larger power supply. Stan