Wadia 860, Levinson & Aero Cap Direct into Amp

I agree with Nathanu. In my opinion, the Wadia 861 with the Statement Upgrade is an upgrade above the AA. The Wadia is built a hell of alot better too!

I haven’t heard the 390s but someone I trust tells me that it isn’t nearly as good as the upgraded Wadia.
Jim

Why should you "have to" upgrade a cd player that sells for 8k new-- aka Wadia. I have heard one in my house and I can understand why people send these units off to GNS. Not having any interest in getting involved with mods- the player was promplty eliminated from consideration. The point being is that- for me- modification would be mandatory as i certainly did not enjoy the stock sound.

Hi

I just sold my wadia 861 CD player. The unit without a doubt is harsh and unstable sounding. especially on transiets...I tried different interconnects but no luck.. I lived with mine for 5 months in my recording studio , I could not figure out what was harsh until I got rid of the wadia. As far as running direct to the amplifier. This is a Joke. The output drivers in the Wadia certianly do not do a good job of driving the input of a good amplifier. You can really hear it in the lower midrange. All of these conclusions were done in my world class recording. studio with FM amplifiers and FM 266 preamp.

As a rule the direct route will give the most life and detail. I am surprised micb's experience took away midrange. I heard a comparison of a Wadia direct versus thru a Lamm preamp at a group meeting and agreed that the sound was less brilliant and the general preference was to go direct. It is easy to see however that if you wanted less on top that an active pre may suit your taste. I have not heard the Levinson so no opinion concerning the comparison.

I know a guy who had both the upgraded Wadia 861SE and the Audio Aero Capitole for quite a while. He sold the Wadia...