Any experience with a Wadia 6?


I have always wanted to own a Wadia Cd player. I have tried to find information on a Wadia 6 Cd player, but find nothing anywhere on the net. Would appreciate any opinions on this piece.
timisle
Call Wadia, they are quite helpful. I called them when I was looking for a player, and seem to remember one of their guys telling me that the transport on the 6 is obsolete and unreplaceable should it fail. But call to confirm this and also just to get some advice. Their recommendation to me was to spend a little more and get a used 830, as they felt it was the best bang for the buck. The 16 or 21 is also a good choice in price/performance ratio.
I'm not so sure about Karl's view of WADIA answering e-mails/phone - sad experiences in this field on my side. But I agree with Karl better not to look for some ancient CDP but for newer products. A used 850 will open quite some skies for you and your system! It's technology isn't outdated and spare parts probably are in stock if needed.
Finally I agree with YOU that a WADIA is the player to go when it comes to Red Book CDs!
Good luck!
I can, without hesitation, second both of the above posts. I have owned many transports, dacs, and cd players,including a Wadia 860, and an 861.
In my humble opinion, you cannot beat them as an overall player. These things are built like a tank.
With their digital volume control you can run them directly into your amps, or through a preamp if need be.
The biggest problem can be finding one. As I am sure you are aware, they don't come up all that often, and they do retain a good portion of their original value, which is a good thing if you have one, and not so good if you are looking for one.
Save up your bucks and go for an 850, 860, or an 861.
Have fun with your search.
Thanks for the feedback! I did find out some information from Steve Huntley at Great Northern Sound. He was very helpful and after hearing what my associated components were, suggested I may be happier with my second choice of a Theta Miles. I haven't decided for sure yet, but am now leaning that way.

Thanks again!
Hi, hope this is not toooo late ;-)
I am a satisfied owner of a Wadia 6 that's been with me since 1984. It's simply a great player that satisfies my taste. For 16 years, I used it to directly drive my Threshold T1, bi-amped Forte, and bi-amped MF X-A200. I haven't found a player that can better it's performance and reliability (except Wadia's). I now had to run it into a pre-amp because I went back to analogue - still, it is a player to contend with. There are 2 downsides I see: 1. it is definitely old; 2. it has no digital input (which I needed to use a W17 ADC for my analogue source); between those two, it is probably the age that you have to consider. But I must tell you - most other CD, DVD, SACD players sound inferior to this 'old model'.

enjoy!
edgar
from the Philippines

.music is all that matters.
I have an early Wadia 6 I bought 10 years ago. Never any problems. Always used bal connectors direct to the amp. It really does sound best this way. I also have a Wadia 830, which functions very much like the 6 , except that it has the internal dip switches to adjust output to match amp/speaker combinations. The 830 has updated Wadia tehnology and sounds a bit more "open" than the 6, but they are definitely cousins. I'm selling my 830, keeping the 6, in order to give priority to speaker replacement.
I have a Wadia 6 bought in the mid-90s (220 volt) and never had any problems with it. I haven't found the need to upgrade (IMO, it still outperforms many CD players to date), except perhaps to the Wadia 9 itself. It's very well built, at a time when they were less commercial than today.

I listened to their PowerDAC (Wadia 790) once - it has an improved and "cleaner" sound than the 6, but you can definitely hear the same Wadia characteristics.
Its been about four years since I owned a Wadia 6. I had it from 1991 or 1992 to 2000. In that time, it worked flawlessly. In 2000, when I switched to a Sony SCD-1, I noted that the Wadia sounded a bit more polite and less dynamic than the Sony, but it certainly was not creamed by the Sony. I'm sure that in many applications, the Wadia would be preferable to the Sony.
I have a Wadia 6 since 1994. It is switchable between 220 volts and 110 volts. So far I have not experienced any problem with it... touch wood. I found it sounds better if I connect it to a preamp rather than connecting directly to the power amp. I have 3 other cd players at home, but the Wadia 6 is still my favourite.
I have wadia 6 for quite some times, now thinking of upgrading,and would like to get a used unit (Wadia 12 DAC) from friend, is wadia 12 DAC matched my Wadia 6?

pl advice!

thank you

[email protected],

Thats a step in the wrong direction in my opinion...The Wadia 6 DAC section is quite a bit better than the brick-wall filtered W-12 DAC (which is nice, don't get me wrong).

Still, the W-12 will at best sound different than that 6's internal Dac section...If you are looking for an improvement...better to look at a newer player in my opinion.

Steve
Wadia said transport is no longer made. I would strongly caution against it. Buying low end new Wadia makes much more sense.
Very old thread here.... classic unit, if you need info re circuit, calibration, parts, reliability, email me. Thnx
hi,
any one can help with a owner manual for wadia 6 ???

Thanks

Or beter a service one.