Wadia or North Star Would like your thoughts

The Wadia 302 is the better machine in my opinion. I owned the North Star and really thought it a bit ordinary. Warmer than the Wadia but the Wadia is more musically engaging. The North Star has a refined sound that never really grabbed me musically.

I have the Wadia 302 up and running. It is has a fast crisp tone, fairly balanced, and has good dynamic range. But compared to a lot of CDP's I've listened to, the highs are a bit subdued. If you want 'bright' this is not going to be for you.

It goes well with some of my tubed amps but it has always sounded better thru a tubed pre-amp. Perhaps it is just too fast direct or might be thru a SS pre-amp. I consider it, overall, neutral in tone and is not short of resolution which can really enhance the sense of depth of image. Totally/tonally different that my other digital front ends. It gets its fair share of use.

I've never heard the North Star, only what I've read, and I concluded from that reading that the Northstar might have mid/high frequencies different from those of the Wadia.

FWIW.