Build Quality Looks - aesthetically very pleasing Transport - TEAC CMK 3.2 - VRDS

Not Transparent Poor Dynamics Poor IR Remote Control Poor Display Very 'Digital Sounding' - Edgy - COLD

WADIA 861 CD PLAYER - REVIEW 13.09.2005. Review of the Wadia 861B - CD Player - Basic - SILVER Serial Number :- 086 130 0343 Purchased on :- 10.01.2004 Purchased from :- Nova Audio - India - Sushil Anand Price Paid :- US $'s 6,000/- A] Music M.A. Recordings - Begona Olavide / Mudejar MA042A Water Lily Acoustics - Tabula Rasa WLA-CS-44-CD ECM Records – Making Music / Zakir Hussain ECM – 1349 Moment Records – Ustad Sultan Khan MRCD – 1006 Reference Recordings – TUTTI ! RR-906CD Telarc – A tribute to Oscar Peterson CD – 83401 Chesky Records – The Raven / Rebecca Pidgeon JD 115 Mercury – Essential / Yello 512 390 – 2 Mazher Bashir JAFFAR 13th September, 2005. Mumbai - Bombay - INDIA e-mail :- schwinn@mtnl.net.in www.schwinnaudio.com Strengths: Build Quality Looks - asthetically very pleasing Transport - TEAC CMK 3.2 - VRDS Weaknesses: Not Transparent Poor Dynamics Poor IR Remote Control Poor Display Very 'Digital Sounding' - Edgy - COLD Similar Products Used: SIMAUDIO MOON ECLIPSE CD PLAYER - SerialNumber A-211294-CD ELECTROCOMPANIET EMC-1 24/192 CD PLAYER - Serial Number 01334] AUDIOMECA MEPHISTO II CD TRANSPORT - Serial Number 2001045 AUDIOMECA ENKIANTUS 24/192 DAC - Serial Number 2001073 METRONOME T1A MK II TRANSPORT + UP SAMPLER METRONOME C1A MK III TUBE 24/192 DAC THE GRYPHON ADAGIO CD PLAYER - Serial # 0401111 CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY MERLIN PRO CD TRANSPORT - Serial # 301209 CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY DRAGON 5.1 PLUS JITTER REDUCER - Serial # 103584 CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY UTHER D/A CONVERTOR v2 Mk5 - Serial # 501202 LIST OF AUDIO GEAR OWNED AND USED :- SIMAUDIO MOON ECLIPSE CD PLAYER - SerialNumber A-211294-CD SIMAUDIO P-5 PRE AMPLIFIER Serial Number A-081291-PRE ELECTROCOMPANIET EMC-1 24/192 CD PLAYER Serial Number 01334 AUDIOMECA MEPHISTO II CD TRANSPORT Serial Number 2001045 AUDIOMECA ENKIANTUS 24/192 DAC Serial Number 2001073 METRONOME T1A MK II TRANSPORT + UP SAMPLER METRONOME C1A MK III TUBE 24/192 DAC WADIA 861-B CD PLAYER Serial # 086 130 0343 BRYSTON BP-25 PRE AMPLIFIER Serial Number 251744 BRYSTON 7B ST POWER AMPLIFIER Serial Number 773775 & 773793 PASS LABS X-1 PRE AMPLIFIER Serial Number 010388 DYNAUDIO CONFIDENCE 5 SPEAKERS Serial Number 729879 & 729990 VdH THE SECOND BALANCED INTERCONNECTS 1M VdH THE FIRST ULTIMATE UNBALANCED INTERCONNECTS 1M VdH THE REVELATION SPEAKER CABLE 3M VdH THE MAINSTREAM HYBRID POWER CABLE 2M XLO ELECTRIC TYPE 4.1B AES/EBU DIGITAL INTERCONNECT CABLE 1M THE GRYPHON ADAGIO CD PLAYER Serial # 0401111 THE GRYPHON SONATA ALLEGRO PRE AMPLIFIER Serial # 8890099 THE GRYPHON ANTILION STEREO SIGNATURE POWER AMPLIFIER Serial # 118 CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY MERLIN PRO CD TRANSPORT [Serial # 301209 CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY DRAGON 5.1 PLUS JITTER REDUCER Serial # 103584 CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY UTHER D/A CONVERTOR v2 Mk5 Serial # 501202 THE GRYPHON GUIDELINE REFERENCE BALANCED INTERCONNECT 1M THE GRYPHON PSC REFERENCE SPEAKER CABLE 2M THE ARGENTO VDM MASTER REFERENCE XLR BALANCED INTERCONNECT 1M & 1.5M THE ARGENTO VDM REFERENCE SPEAKER CABLE 3M WIREWORLD SUPER ECLIPSE 5 XLR BALANCED & RCA UNBALANCED INTERCONNECT - 1M JORMA DESIGN JPC 2.5 POWER CABLE - SWEDEN - 2M - ALL ELECTRONICS DC-CABLE TAIWAN POWER CABLES - CUSTOM TERMINATION Front End Electronics - Digital MAZHER B. JAFFAR SCHWINNAUDIO.COM

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SIMAUDIO MOON ECLIPSE CD PLAYER - SerialNumber A-211294-CD ELECTROCOMPANIET EMC-1 24/192 CD PLAYER - Serial Number 01334] AUDIOMECA MEPHISTO II CD TRANSPORT - Serial Number 2001045 AUDIOMECA ENKIANTUS 24/192 DAC - Serial Number 2001073 METRONOME T1A MK II TRANSPORT + UP SAMPLER METRONOME C1A MK III TUBE 24/192 DAC THE GRYPHON ADAGIO CD PLAYER - Serial # 0401111 CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY MERLIN PRO CD TRANSPORT - Serial # 301209 CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY DRAGON 5.1 PLUS JITTER REDUCER - Serial # 103584 CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY UTHER D/A CONVERTOR v2 Mk5 - Serial # 501202

space, bass, dynamic, everething!

nearly as expensive as a car

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 - 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 557 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 - Spectral DMC-20 - 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 (I have the x modification, which itself was 700 dollars from the 860) 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. Not to mention the remote control, you nearly need two hands to lift it. 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.

top high end cdplayer a source that can give you everything you want to hear

none

I am the more then happy owner of a beautiful wadia 860x.
The x is standing for the latest upgrade.
Player is direct connected to amplifier without using a pre-amp. Used before AR LS 15.
With MIT shotguns cables and NBS power cable[highly recommended to use with this Wadia] it is incredible what the Wadia 860x let you hear. When you have the money to buy this source, please follow me and do it! It is amazing good.
Compare to both Bow's you hear air around instruments and voices. extremely good soundstage wide and deep. Many details I always missed.
My Avalon Eclipse speakers got into the magic area thanks to this excellent source.

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Bow zzeight, Bow wizzard, Sphinx proj12

This is an addendum to my Wadia 860 review, which is posted justahead of or just behind this one, depending on how they do things here.
When I wrote the earlier review, I had not yet heard the Naim CDX with the
XPS power supply. Having heard the Naim (and bought it), for credibilty I
really do need to emend my 860 review. I take nothing back but do need to
say that the Naim is better, better in that it has all of the Wadia's
detail but more coherence. It is less flashy, less dramatic; richer, more
musical. More attractive. If you had never heard the Naim, as I had not,
you would have trouble imagining the ways in which it is superior to the
Wadia. The Wadia remains one of the very best players out there: to my
ears it gets more than any of the others in its price class -- except the
Naim. Audition them both if you can. Between them, they really should be
dividing the market. You want front row seats? You want impact? Maximum
clarity? It's the Wadia. You want to move back a few rows where it all
just begins to blend? You want coherence with detail? You want proportion?
It's the Naim. With the XPS. Haven't heard it without. The Naim is $800
more than the Wadia with the XPS -- and you'll need a preamp. But after
playing with the digital volume control on the 860, I've come to believe
preamps are a good thing, especially if you like to listen at low volume
some times. That's it.

Dynamic, tonally accurate, great grip on the music

Played without a preamp, it sounds harsh and much less coherent

The problem with comparing high end CD players is that there are a number of excellent products out there. This is one of them, and my CD of choice that takes a CD, extracts the maximum music, and passes those signals to the next component. It does it in a hugely competent manner, without fuss and consistently. In association with other high end components and cabling, it is a cornerstone product.

To play it without a pre-amplifier is a big mistake in my opinion. In this mode, a lot of the subtlety is lost, and I can well believe why a previous reviewer chnaged his CD on this basis. I also agree that the remote is not the easiest to use unless you point it in straight line to the CD.

Do I recommend it.....You bet. In the right system it is close to a worldbeater

Similar Products Used:

Wadia 20, various Linn products, naim CDS

860x in the right components and tweaks,it stands with the best

remote will not work unless in the center

I first tried this with an aragon 8008bb amps but I wasn't happy.The resolution wasn't great and the tone quality wasn't life-like.I later experimented with a pair of CAD 300 LX2O's .The sound was breath-taking.At the time, 861 came out.So I borrowed it for a couple of hours for curiosity reasons but I noticed right away the sound was different.I'm not sure better in sound but in parts yes.The 861 sounds a little rolled off on the higher frequencies that I have trouble getting use to it, which is probably correct of the two but not for my taste. I prefer using 860x but with a shakti stone on the top and using a king cobra as my power cord.The result beats the 861 upgrade I feel.To top it off ,I used nirvana s/l interconnects and cresendo speaker cables with assortments of Bybee products.The speaker I'm using are the grand piano's which perform like class A in this system.I'm completely satisfied.

Similar Products Used:

wadia 861

Superb soundstage presentation. Detailed tube like tonality.

None

I own the 860x and I run it directly into an Audio Research VT-100 mk2 through NBS Monitor 3 cables. Forget using a Pre
Amp you wont need it. I have compaired this player directly with a sony SCD-777es super audio player that was playing
super audio cd's and the wadia was playing the cd layer on the same disk. The wadia was equal or better in every respect except treble extension and treble ambience.
That is how good the Wadia is. Yes Wadia's are expensive, but if you shop around you can pick one up for a good price. This Wadia is only one of a few cd players at the pinnicle of 16 bit technology. It can except 24/96khz inputs and can be upgraded to the the lastest model, the 860I. I have never
owned a more musical and revealing player. Even with new
digital formats, I am going to keep this player for a long time.

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Only digital beter, is Spectral.

Clean unclottered sound, rock solid tracking

None

The 861x was clean and clear and made my CD's sound much more musical & then I put in an SACD & was blown away by the clarity & my old CD's now sound a merely ok. But I now know what a reference system can sound like. Other components were Amati's & MF M3.Its obviously a quality product which should be partnered accordingly, however it will highlight deficiences in CD quality and in production and engineering.

Similar Products Used:

Meridian

Precision, detail and imaging

None

I love the Wadia 860. It is built like a tank and its looks alone are worth the price (ok im exagerating, but i still love the design).

As for the real importance, the sound, i can safely say that i was amazed. All the instruments are so precise and detailed it is hard to imagine what my CDs sounded like before. Music is now a whole different experience. Im thinking about getting a preamp, as im having static problems running the Wadia direct into the Stratos : i think theres some sort of impedance problem there.

My only complaint as of now is the lack of soundstaging, but i attribute this to the fact that i have a brand new Amp that may not have broken in correctly yet. Will keep you posted on that.

Eq used :

Audience Paris Speakers
Odyssey Stratos Amps
TMC Yellow interconnects
No preamp

Similar Products Used:

None

I found this player at the end of my search for the best of the
Honda Accord cd-players -- that is, one-box players in the $3500-6000
range. The Wadia 860 sells for $7450, but it plays without a preamp -
digital domain volume control -- so subtracting the cost of decent preamp,
say a Krell KRC 3 ($3200)brings well down into the "Accord" range. To my
ears, fresh from a live classical concert, this player is the most real in
the category. It is not warm, cold, liquid, airy, crisp. It sounds like
live music. Pressed for adjectives, I'd say: open, direct, immediate,
honest. Bad cd's don't sound too good, but most cd's sound terrific. This player
made me realize that current cd software ain't that bad -- given half
an honest chance to reveal itself. This was not the best sounding cd
player I head during my search, it was the truest to the sound of live music:
the BAT had a richer mid-range, the Levinson was more liquid and laid back,
the old Krell KPS20il had a firmer bottom. But none of these, when all was
said and done, sounded as much like live music as the Wadia. Depends on what
you want I guess. If you like live music, if you can stand having the real
thing in your house, better hear this one.