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ESOTERIC, WADIA -- How do they really sound?

I have read and heard that upgrading your source to the highest level possible will make the greatest difference. This makes sense, in that once information is lost or poorly decoded, it cannot be regained.

BUT, I am dumbfounded at the opinion of expensive digital players out there. I did an exhaustive search on the forums on Esoteric and Wadia, and was shocked to find some very strong criticisms of deficiencies in products from both these companies, and Levinson and others.

Yet, you can find bang-up magazine reviews on all these products (no surprise, right?).

My concern is that some of the criticisms are rather severe, and surprising in items of this price caliber. For example. The soundstaging is pushed together, the tonal balance is off, the dynamics are compressed, the treble is bright, the sonics are thin, the bass is lacking, the digital volume control degrades the sonics, etc.

If you are buying used, and don't have dealers to take these pieces home, or feel unethical in doing so, how can you make any decisions based on this quagmire of information?

HELP!
saxo

Showing 1 response by tboooe

tboooe's avatar
tboooe
1,009 posts
 
This is a definite problem if you cannot audition the players yourself. The problem is inherent in our extremely subjective hobby. What sounds great to me may sound muddled and horrible to someone else. There is no way to make a definitive assessment of anything. We could try and use absolute data such as measurements but even this information can vary from test to test depending on the myriad of inter-related things that could effect the sound. Numbers also do not capture what we perceive inbetween our ears. So in a nutshell you are screwed! :)

Do whatever you can to come up with your own opinion of the players. At the end of the day, it does not matter what anyone else says as long as you like what you are hearing.
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