I've owned a Wadia 850 about 8 months now and the only reason I would get rid of it is to upgrade to another Wadia product. I first owned a Wadia 23 and was very pleased. I then thought that owning a tube-based unit would be more fulfilling, particularly in the midrange. I bought a BAT DK D5 and really didn't care for that totally laid back sound with my electronics. The Wadia 850 sounds like "real" music to me. It's very up front in presentation, it goes low and it goes high, and while there are probably some other units out there that sound better in some systems, I don't think you can buy a better product for the money. Yes, the remote is very directional, but it will probably last longer than the player. Now that Wadia is back up and running, I feel very confident that they'll be there to provide products and service for the long term. If I keep my Wadia 850 rather than trade up to another, I'll probably send it up for upgrading in the future. There are some currently on the used market, and should you buy one and not be happy, you shouldn't have any problem selling it right here on Audiogon and will probably get close to what you paid for it. Good luck!!
