Hi Raymond,
I haven't heard the Wadia's so I can't really compare them, but I have owned a couple of Resolution Audio Opus 21's so I can provide an opinion of it.
The RA Opus 21 is a very good CD player IMHO. I've owned 5 or 6 different high-end CD players and the RA Opus 21 is the one that I've preferred by a good margin. It is fairly analog sounding in my setup and it does have a very rhythmic sound. It has great bass definition and bass lines are very easy to follow, where they were somewhat muddled on some of my other CD players.
As Kurt stated, RA has a 30 day return policy and would only charge a 5% restocking fee if you returned it. I have owned 2 different Opus 21's that I bought used on this site. Both were perfect. The first one I re-sold at zero loss and I ended up buying another used one as I was unhappy with the interim player (a different brand) that I bought.
You may want to consider a used one since they seem to hold their value very well once the initial depreciating kicks in. A quality used one can be purchased for under $2500. You might get lucky and get one for around $2000 (as I did). Anyway, if you go used, make sure it is a very recent model with the "new" quiet transport and direct access remote control.
BTW, I use mine connected directly to my power amps using the built-in analog volume control. I save a bunch of money by not needing a comparably good pre-amp in my system.
Enjoy,
TIC
I haven't heard the Wadia's so I can't really compare them, but I have owned a couple of Resolution Audio Opus 21's so I can provide an opinion of it.
The RA Opus 21 is a very good CD player IMHO. I've owned 5 or 6 different high-end CD players and the RA Opus 21 is the one that I've preferred by a good margin. It is fairly analog sounding in my setup and it does have a very rhythmic sound. It has great bass definition and bass lines are very easy to follow, where they were somewhat muddled on some of my other CD players.
As Kurt stated, RA has a 30 day return policy and would only charge a 5% restocking fee if you returned it. I have owned 2 different Opus 21's that I bought used on this site. Both were perfect. The first one I re-sold at zero loss and I ended up buying another used one as I was unhappy with the interim player (a different brand) that I bought.
You may want to consider a used one since they seem to hold their value very well once the initial depreciating kicks in. A quality used one can be purchased for under $2500. You might get lucky and get one for around $2000 (as I did). Anyway, if you go used, make sure it is a very recent model with the "new" quiet transport and direct access remote control.
BTW, I use mine connected directly to my power amps using the built-in analog volume control. I save a bunch of money by not needing a comparably good pre-amp in my system.
Enjoy,
TIC