Recommend CD Player with Volume Control

See two other active threads concerning Wadia, but do not overreact! Things are changing...not going away. Wadia did not have any financial hardsdhip, but an internal group of employees has bought the Company and is going through a period of transition...Still great units and I would recommend even the discontinued 830 and 850 as great machines which do not break down, eliminate the pre-amp and associated interconnects from the chain, and offer fantastic sound quality. In the 2k range, look for a used Wadia 830ix and you'll have yourself a keeper!

I'm not bent out of shape, just challenged him to be specific...read what I said. Defending it like it was my wife? Get over yourself, dude.

I agree with Carl. To say you don't like a product without being specific as to why contributes little to this thread. I have never heard the Resolution Audio products but there seems to be general consensus that it is an excellent value. When there is a differing opinion it would be most useful to "share" with the readers why you don't like it. Give us a specific criticism. Constructive criticism offers greater insight into a product than "It never sounded right or "I just don't like it". I for one would like to know why you didn't like it as I am also in the market for a new digital front end. The above remarks are intended to be constructive not adversarial. I believe that is the point Carl tried to make.

Sorry guys I'll try to work on my specificity. In my defense knowone else said what they liked about it. I listend to and lived with the CD50 on 3 systems and came to roughly the same conclusion on each. Interestingly I found the CD50 scored the best on my he man rig. Tonally from the highs to the upper mids I really liked the CD50, it had extended treble without sounding bright or edgy, it may even beat out the Wadia in this regard. The lower mids seemed to have a slightly hard sound, not that bad though. The bass was generous and full though I felt that there was to much mid bass punch, which can add to effect of some music. It was in the area of spatial presentation where I feel that it fell short. The soundstage was narrow, with a confused sense of placement to each sound, it mushed or smushed the sound together. Compared to a Rotel 855, I thought that the Rotel bettered it in this area.Tonaly the CD50 is good, but the way it presents the sounds in space, simply sounds wrong to me. Instead of it sounding wide and deep, it seemed as if the sound was formed in a half circle coming at me. There is no doubt about it that the CD50 has a BIG detailed sound, "I just don't like it because of the way it deals with space." Maybe that area doesn't matter as much to some, but I don't think that the experience works if that doesn't. Oh yeah Carl I did listen to more than CDRs on it. My vote for a CD player with Volume control in the 2000.00 range would go to the Wadia 830 -Ryan

What preamp did you use with the Rotel, and did you use one with the CD50? I use no preamp with mine, and have found none of the aspects you name. How long was this CD50 left on in each instance, by the way? It needs a few days of being on, before it really performs its best. WHAT RECORDINGS DID YOU USE FOR COMPARISON? With mine, I hear a different soundstage size, width, depth, and tonal presentation, with each recording. I feel like I'm hearing the character of each space on each recording. And I definitely hear the rear corners of the recorded space, and hear no tonal emphasis of any kind, in any of the frequency range. If you like your Wadia better, that's fine. To each, his own. I suspect if the CD50, or CD55, costed $15,000, more people would buy one.