John,
I'm a Wadia guy. Still use my Model 8 transport on a daily basis with no issues after 15+ years. Dacs I combined with it were a Wadia X-32 upgraded with at&t glass input option. Then moved up to the X-64 which I liked better. But like you, I wondered what current dacs would sound like in comparison to the Wadia. Acquired an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 with the Turbo mod from Empirical Audio ( Steve Nugent) fame.It upsamples all inputs to 24/192. Very analog sounding and made the Wadia which I was comfortable with for years sound terrible harsh. So sold the Wadia. Still own the Electro companiet, but moved to an older Mcintosh MDA-1000 using Burr Brown vintage chips. This is my last dac ever. It does everything I could ever ask for and then some. I tried it with its matching MCD-1000 transport, But the Wadia is far superior, and will be a keeper till it dies. The ECD-1 has a lot of the Mac sound for a lot less money. Mine is currently for sale if you're interested. Hope this helps.
Den
I'm a Wadia guy. Still use my Model 8 transport on a daily basis with no issues after 15+ years. Dacs I combined with it were a Wadia X-32 upgraded with at&t glass input option. Then moved up to the X-64 which I liked better. But like you, I wondered what current dacs would sound like in comparison to the Wadia. Acquired an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 with the Turbo mod from Empirical Audio ( Steve Nugent) fame.It upsamples all inputs to 24/192. Very analog sounding and made the Wadia which I was comfortable with for years sound terrible harsh. So sold the Wadia. Still own the Electro companiet, but moved to an older Mcintosh MDA-1000 using Burr Brown vintage chips. This is my last dac ever. It does everything I could ever ask for and then some. I tried it with its matching MCD-1000 transport, But the Wadia is far superior, and will be a keeper till it dies. The ECD-1 has a lot of the Mac sound for a lot less money. Mine is currently for sale if you're interested. Hope this helps.
Den