Linn vs. Wadia

For the record, I don't subscribe to audio mags. They are mostly advertising propaganda and I only flip through them in the newsstands to get the scoop on new products coming out and check out the specs and all I am doing is stating the facts. If you guys claim that Wadia gives the best sound in your system, and you want to bow down to your 50lb shiny machined aluminum box, it's your money and your call. I'm sure they have a nice markup and profit margin since the cost of the parts they put in are so cheap and they don't have much R&D costs. The R&D is all picked up by Teac which has the same transport as the 850/860 (since they developed and built it!). Teac sells their own high end CD players for only $3k. Teac sells transports to Wadia at a marked up price, who then put it in a nicer box and add some tweaks here and there and then further mark up the price for the final consumer. I can't believe Wadia would go out of business unless it's the fact that fewer and fewer audio lovers are being fooled by the fancy box. I'll definitely give it an audition when I'm ready to upgrade, but I'm blindfolding myself so I don't get sold by the shiny metal box!

I auditioned some Linn and Wadia players today. To be fair, the Linn Genki was average at best, but I was extremely impressed with the Ikemi. I personally feel that it bettered the 830 in most areas, including a more natural, relaxed presentation of the music. The Wadia was more lively and incisive, but it seemed to exaggerate certain frequencies, like the sound was fed through a graphic equalizer, although details seemed intact. I felt the Wadia 850 was noticably better than than the 830, but still fell a bit short of the Ikemi. Jla, I can critique the physical build quality of a component I have seen and what is listed in the spec sheets if I want. That might be the only thing OBJECTIVE that anyone can state, since sound quality is actually SUBJECTIVE, and there is no right or wrong. In keeping myself objective, I refrained from commenting on the sound until I have heard it. I understand that you are passionate and defensive about your substantial investment and I apologize to you and any Wadia lovers regarding some of the comments I made in my earlier post. If you think all happy with your investment, and the sound is good in your system, then more power to you all. I am sorry if I don't feel that way, but I believe I am entitled to my own opinion without having to be called a nutcase or requiring luck to find the player best for me, since my under 30 year old ears are just fine, thank you very much. Your blantantly personal attack has started to cross the line of being offensive, and I request that either this thread ends here, or we stop the flaming. One final point is that a direct comparison of the Wadia 850 with the Ikemi seems a bit unfair since it does cost $1500 (40%) more than the Linn Ikemi, so I think it SHOULD sound better, (which to me, it didn't) and a Wadia 860x at over $7000 should sound significantly better. I didn't bother auditioning this since player, like the Sondek CD12 would be out of my price range.