Wadia 861 Owners...

I have my SME 20 turntable on a Symposium Ultra shelf, ditto for my BAT VK51se. My Esoteric DV 50 (brand new) is on some very large metal cones. My BAT VKP10SE is on Symposium Rollerblocks and fat padz. Everything then sits on a Arcici Suspense rack. My amp is on a sound anchor custom stand. It made a huge diff for the amp and only $200.

I used to have a Wadia 850, it benefited greatly from isolation. Depends where you want to push the sound on what type. Rollerblocks, more detail, silence generally. cones a warmer sound. All depends-these are general statements.

Since you're using a vk200, I went from that amp to a VK60 several years ago. You loose a little in bass control, everything else clearly better, mostly the midrange and depth.

You'd love a VK60se or a 75se. You won't notice any power difference. For the price of a vk55, you can get a used 75se.

I've used my 861 with both ss and tubes (Levinson and CAT). Both work well; however, I recently inserted a Supratek Chenin preamp into the mix, and with my system, the 861 sounds MUCH better with the Chenin, than without!

I've owned a few Wadia players and I'm currently using an 861 with a GNSC Statement upgrade. I've used Spectral amps and preamps and ran the 861 straight into a 150 II and through a DMC 20 II and I preferred it without the preamp. I also used a Rowland 8TiHC with and without a Lamm L1. I still preferred the Wadia running directly to the amp. I have also run the Wadia straight into a pair of Tenor 75Wis and also connected it throught the passive volume attenuators and my preference was the direct route. I currently have the 861 going straight into a Boulder 1060 and I think it sounds more like the real thing to me. I've run both balanced and single ended and it's really a matter of preference because with an all balanced system you get more impact, but you lose a little something in top end finesse. That's not to say that there aren't some preamps that will work well because I sure others out there will attest that they do. Obviously I think you chose a great player to experiment with.

I'm running my Wadia861se GNSC into a Boulder 1012 pre-amp. I never seriously considered going direct to the amps for three reasons:
1. i wanted a greater range of volume setting than just affording by staying near the top of the Wadia digital attenuation
2. i required the ability to switch between a couple different source components
3. the Boulder is a fantastic pre-amp, and i believe that the buffering and drive capabilities of a good pre-amp should not be discarded off-hand (especially when mated to the same mfg's power amps).

just my opinion.

From a Purists standpoint you would think that running a Wadia straight into the amp/amps would benefit it's sonics by eliminating the pre-amp from the chain? In my trials I have done this, however when adding a revealing line-stage and adjusting the Wadia's internal dip voltage out switches to match the pre-amps input requirements it takes things to an entirely new level. If digital was my only source, maybe I would speak to Steve at GNSC to see if he could help? However once hearing the difference, I only have intentions of using the Wadia as a CDP with a pre-amp. Good Luck!