Deb, The Wadia 21 is upgradeable to the Wadia 21i which is equivalent to the 850 currently in production. See their web site for details. The big changes are a new circuit board and variable setting for the output gain. It is not cheap, $1800. But, if you have the scratch it is worth it.
Wadia 21 vs. Res Audio CD50 or CD55?
I recently purchased a used Wadia 21, which is a wonderful player; heads above the Marantz CD63SE it replaced! But.....I'm starting to feel like I purchased yesterdays news, you know "old" technology. I know that things like "upsampling", "24/96" and the like should not matter; in the end, only sound quality and musical satisfaction should matter. And I know that a player that sounded great 3 years ago (when the Wadia 21 was discontinued) should still please musically today. Having said that, I'm wondering: Has anyone out there had a chance to compare the Wadia 21 with any of the "next generation" CD players featuring 24/96 or upsampling technology? I'm especially interested your thoughts regarding the Resolution Audio CD50 or CD55 (upsampling). How about the Arcam CD23 FMJ? Does it make sense to go from one expensive yet slightly "outdated" player to another expensive yet more current player? Of course in an ideal world, I'd just try the various players in question out in my system, but that seems to be a difficult task at this time; no local dealers with whom I have a relationship. The rest of my system is as follows: Wadia 21 (direct to power amps) Alon V mkIII VTL MB-120 monoblocks or Bryston 4B-ST Harmonic Technology wire and interconnects Bryston BP25 or Blue Circle BC3 preamp (currently out of the loop) I'm also in the process of upgrading my power amps (Ayre or BAT), but that is best left for another thread! Thanks!