This is definetely one of the greatest CD players ever made. I also own a Primare DVD 30 multiplayer, which contains the latest technology (...compared to the Wadia 16). The Primare is no match for the Wadia: Soundstage, resolution, bass response, rhythm, are lightyears better with the 16!! Okay, price range isn't quite comparable (Primare: 3000€, Wadia: 10'000€), but since the moment I bought he Wadia, there is a gap of almost 15 years. There has allegedly been a lot of technical progress in CD playback during that time, which let shine the achievments Wadia's engineers with the 16 shine even more...

But make sure to use very good Interconnect Cables when you play the Wadia 16! It deserves (...and needs) the best cables around. I had awesome results with the Transparent Ultras!

Very well made
Nice remote control
Rapid loading time

Simply not good value for money
Far too big

I tried out this device as a local dealer had one and I'd heard many good things about Wadia. Had it performed well, I would have bought it. However, sound-wise, it simply didn't outperform a much cheaper Meridian 588. It did sound different (a bit darker in tone, which some might prefer), but certainly not "better" in qualitative terms. I won't be buying it.

Similar Products Used:

Meridian 588
Linn Mimik

space,textured, bass,micro dynamic,soundstage pinpoint, everething,

This CD-Player has some strenghts over other players, which can be described as follows: First you notice the very deep and powerfull bass. You get deep bass also from other equipment, but witch the lack of spatial information. All kind of instruments which have small rise times (percussion, ...) come with explosive attacks -awesome inner details even where you would never expect it. the spatial information is as good like never heard before. the resolution is so outstanding good, that you can hear a *lot* of things never heard before in your best known records. I used a Sony 777 ES with all the op-amps changed to the best Burr-Brown types. Not bad - but HiFi. The Wadia is not HiFi, it is just music. I would have never believed that there is so much music and information on the CDs, regardless what they are. From the oldes ones (Rennaissance, Abba, The Doors, ...) via Jazz-Rock (Camel, ...), Rock (Rush, Pink Floyd, ...) to the latest dance music. It is amazing, amazing, amazing! I listen to it with a STAX Omega II headphone and Apogee speakers. I do use a preamplifier - CJ PFR - which sounds better in my case, as I have the amps on pre-out and the headphone on tape-out. If you only have power-amps, or a pre-amp not state-of-the-art drive the amp directly from the Wadia. This unit is not cheap. It is extremely expensive, indeed. But after trying it out, I have to say that this is worth the money. It makes music. Nothing less! Like there are headphones and Stax earspeakers, there are CD-Players and the Wadia. It is technically descibed a CD-Player, but sonically it is a Stradivari. I needed hours to get my totally overloaded ears recognize the gazillions of details never heard before. And the unit get better every day since then, as far as my ears are capable to follow into its sonic dimensions. The player iself is built that wou think a Krell amplifier is a cheap plstic toy compared to it. 24 kilos! If you want to know how it feels to knock on its front, go out to the street and knock on the ground.Many of my friends said this Wadia 16 is much better than ML 39 in most aspects. !

brand recognition, sound quality (?), price I paid for it

none at $150

I picked this up basically for free at a local garage sale. Apparently, an angry wife was getting back at her unfaithful husband (some big shot executive at some company, I forgot the name) by liquidating his audio gear for cheap while he's away on a business trip. I should have gotten there earlier because I saw some fella heaving away a very nice heavy looking mono block amp (probably also got it at a very nice price). I hooked it up to my HT receiver, and honestly, I can't tell the difference between it and my Sony 333ES SACD changer when playing red book CDs. I know some of you audiophiles will probably say I am deaf, but that's just the truth of it. I just can't tell a difference in A/B blind test. Guess I'll just drop it on Ebay and make some quick bucks. But I would wholeheartedly recommend it if you could find it second hand- even up to $500 I think it would still be a good value.

Similar Products Used:

Sony SCD-C333ES

I just recently purchased a used Wadia 16 to replace my Sony CDP-XA7ES. The Wadia sounds different than the Sony, and it is an improvement. The Sony had a bit of upper midrange/lower treble hardness at times and was a little loose in the bass. The Wadia completely eliminated this. It sounds more spacious, more refined, and better balanced throught the frequency spectrum. I feel that it even beats the Levinson 39. The 16 has the richness and naturalness of the Sony with the spaciousness and detail of the Levinson. Truly the best of both worlds. Highly recommended and quite a steal at $2995 for a used one only 1 year old! Also, can be upgraded to the latest Wadia 860 internals.

Posted by Lukasz F. on November 02, 1998 at 17:16:16:

Hi there
an aftermath of my effort to help my best friend to build "the best stereo in the world" was last night's listening session.
After finishing our "best loudspeakers ever built", connected to the Ukrainian Wonder tubed elecronics, I brought, just for the hell of it, my own Wadia 16 for
listening.

I will skip the unnecessary foreplay. I spent half of my life listening to the music and building stereo. NOTHING, but nothing prepared me for this. The whole system,
in a dedicated listening room, is really very good. But plugging in the Wadia 16 did something that all of us guys only dream about. It left us totally speeachless. My
jaws dropped on my lap and spit was slowly running down my chin, my neck, and eventulally under my shirt. I was hallucinating, I was in heaven. Evcery CD we
played proved that Wadia is nothing short of phenomenal. It does every, I mean EVERY aspect of playbak so well - the bass, space, 3-d, treble, beauty factor -
everything so fantastic... Consider me impressed. The guy who owns the rest of the system had his spine broken. He cant afford the purchase, but he is in love. He
was little short of selling his even number organs to the hospital to get one of those aluminum monsters. I am not kidding, but bear in mind he is the greatest lover of
music and audio you ever met.
The funny thing was the lack of character of the THING. It did equally fantastic Jazz, Techno, Classical, everything! No prefferences, just honest resolution and
infinite musicality.
Nuff said.
Must sleep (sometimes at least)
Lukasz

Occasionally a person is fortunate enough to make an addition to his/her system which makes the proverbial "jaw drop". I was fortunate enough to have owned the Wadia 22 transport and Wadia 26 DA converter. No slouch components. At $4795 this was some serious gear. This system was coupled with a Classe CA 300 power amp, Classe Five pre., Thiel 3.6 speakers, Sonic Frontiers phono pre., and a Rega Planer 3. With the Wadia 16 bypassing the Classe Five, the dynamics, soundstaging, bass response, and smoothness took not a small leap, but an Evil Knievil let's jump the Grand Canyon leap closer to reality. I have had a remarkable number of components in my system over the years. Absolutely nothing compares to the improvement I am happy enough to report to you now.

Perhaps one of the best sounding and most versatile CD player.Digital vol. control can drive most amp to adequate vol.
Software upgradable DAC design via ROM chip replacement.
Has four digital inputs and four digital outputs so it can
act as a transport or DAC.

Very balanced sounding CD player. Krell 20i/L and Levinson 39
are two cloeset competition. At this price point, more money
do not neccessary buy better quality but different quality.

Build quality is exceptional. One drawback though, the chassis
is very deep so some cabinet might not fit.

This is a super CD player, it has top grade resolution, imaging, details! It has digital volume control, so it can bypass preamp and link directly to power amp. By cut off pre amp, it bring the sound even more pure and still not losing any dynamic! Remember, the best pre amp is no pre amp at all! You can save the budget on pre amp and a inter connect cable and upgrade your speakers!
I upgrade Wadia 16 to 16i by Wadia in 1999, and I believe this upgrade make this CD player at much higher level performance!
If you are lucky enough to find one on the used market, get it!