Old V's New (part 639)

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by wadia-miester, Dec 5, 2003.

  1. wadia-miester

    wadia-miester Mighty Rearranger

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    Not again I hear you cry, well if ever there was a more graphic (can I use that for an aural test :D ) demonstration of the differenices between the newer all singing and dancing gear, V's solid and true, then we have it here at the moment
    We have a wadia (transport) in for testing & inspection, all checked out tickety boo, so I though I slot it in the system we have here, treated mains/trick cables digital/mains/analogue/cdfix cdp/trans/p1-a trick psu.
    The wadia is on a normal mains, cheapo lead and no isolation, and it total trashes the other too in terms of sheer presence/texture bounce/ speed & dynamics, by just using a single digital cable going into the dac :eek: not subtle fooking obvious.
    Does that make the new stuff bad, no just differenent, the home system' does things nicer and more rounded, but this wadia is 8 years old and not the top ones either, we've had similar experiances, with older coplands etc,
    Yes if we add the p1-a & cables to the mix it goes up again, but as a straight plug in it's so damn good.
    So do listen to some of the older kit, you may be surprised at the sound it can give. Wm
     
    wadia-miester, Dec 5, 2003
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  2. wadia-miester

    Lt Cdr Data om

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    how about a wm guide to wadia cd players with your thoughts?
     
    Lt Cdr Data, Dec 5, 2003
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  3. wadia-miester

    voodoo OdD

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    :cool:
     
    voodoo, Dec 5, 2003
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  4. wadia-miester

    domfjbrown live & breathe psy-trance

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    Old digital = no parts and burnt out lasers - not a great idea on an expensive (even second hand) product like Wadia.

    Just IMHO.

    Just a shame everything these days is built down to a shockingly low price...
     
    domfjbrown, Dec 5, 2003
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  5. wadia-miester

    HenryT

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    I'd be interested in reading that too! :)

    Funnily enough, I've heard more WM modded Wadias than stock/unmodded ones. In fact, only ever heard 1 unmodded Wad. :eek:

    Not heard the fully burnt in WM modded 25 DAC (only heard it in its half modded form), but I'd say the modded 15 DAC is my fave so far, even managed to do classical very well too. :cool:
     
    HenryT, Dec 5, 2003
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  6. wadia-miester

    wadia-miester Mighty Rearranger

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    Henry, quite strange that, Titain though it was 'odd' in the Timbre dept, but had better (at the time focus and image) then the 25.
    The 15, has been upped a fair bit more now, and is quite nice :)
    The 25 I feel is still the most musicaly complete dac I've heard, in stock form it may not have 861/sim Elipse detail, but it's close and can be sorted, for little outlay, whilst retaining it's musical nature.
    The new hybrid 850, easily takes apart an 861, and has beatuiful balance and overall prowess, and dynamics and life to :cool: plus a small increase in detail!!!!!!
    Last stage to preform in 2 weeks, then fin :eek: (on this one anyway).
    Dom, I'm talking players about 4-6 Y.O.'s old, and virtualy most stuff is replaceable, if not with better items. Wm
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 5, 2003
    wadia-miester, Dec 5, 2003
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  7. wadia-miester

    HenryT

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    More has been done to the 15? :eek: I was taking the last time I visited Omiga Audio HQ as my previous reference point and hearing what it was doing in Timpy's system.

    Be interesting to see what the 850 turns out like in comprison to your previous 8/15 or 8/25 combos.

    :)
     
    HenryT, Dec 5, 2003
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  8. wadia-miester

    wadia-miester Mighty Rearranger

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    The 15 had stock single ended output stages, so rectifed that :D plus a new little trick I've learnt seems to work well, Timpy's so pleased he wants some more done.
    The 850 as it is at the moment, easily outpaces even the 8/15 in best form, but more than a fair margin. :) (do bear in mind I've been accquiring knowledge along the way, and incorperated new ideas and components that simply arn't or can't be part of the 15 without recourse to making it a 2 box dac) although to start with it took a bit of pausading, the stock one has the right traits, just well, needs a little help. I also got some space back at home, time for a smaller rack too. Wm
     
    wadia-miester, Dec 5, 2003
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  9. wadia-miester

    michaelab desafinado

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    The current HFW has an article comparing a Meridian 507 with an ancient Meridian MDC Pro from the 80s. They reckon the game hasn't really moved on that much. 507 was technically better (more detailed etc etc) but they reckoned the old MDC Pro was more musical ;)

    Michael.
     
    michaelab, Dec 5, 2003
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