Received my Wadia i170 transport today.

Does the Wadia/Ipod combination sound as good as the super transports, like the Wadia 7, Mark Levinson No 31.5, MBL 1621, Burmester, CEC, Metronome Calista? The answer is probably: Yes!
PS: I own a MBL 1621 transport (so I'm not talking bullshit here).

Chris

Hi Robr, I'm about to sell my MBL 1621. Am I deaf? Please tell me the right diagnosis.
PS: I think Mike Lavigne and others are laughing their pants off because of my silly posts.

Chris

Mrjstark, thx for recommendation. The digital output of the Wadia is indeed very flimsy and not worthy of the Wadia name. This way Wadia gets also a bit of a "midfi" status. Also the external power supply/wall wart is just adequate but not very oldskool Wadia like. In short, we need a "signature" version of the 170i.

Chris

It is obvious that the "hardcore" proponents of megabuck super transports aren't eager to give their response to this thread. I think they are afraid that their super expensive transport might not be superior to this "poor man's" CD solution. Has any of you also compared the Ipod/Wadia 170 combination with the top of the line Esoteric or CEC transports? What is your experience? Some of those transports cost 10-20 times the Ipod/Wadia --> so they should be better!! Heheh.

Chris

Steve, I have an off topic question for you: Why don't you team up with guys like Keith Johnson or Alex Peychev (APL Audio) or Dan Lavry so you can design together a no compromise digital playback system that is truly state of the art? In my opinion the knowledge about digital audio technology is pretty much scattered among the experts around the world and there is little co-working between the different experts. That is a pity because it slows down the speed of progress.

Chris