Is Wadia 8 Transport still good?

Albert

Albert

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I have tried a couple of DVD players (Oppo BDP-95 and Faroudja DV1000) as a transport for my new Teac UD-503 and have noticed a difference in the sound. The Oppo as a transport with the Teac makes a very clean and dynamic sound but a little on the cool side. The Faroudja is warmer and smoother but slightly less dynamic.

This got me wondering if a purposely built transport would be even better, combining the traits of both. I have found a Wadia 8 for sale that sounds interesting. It is a little on the old side (about the same age as the Faroudja) so I was wondering if it would be worth the risk. Parts for it would be difficult to find. Does anyone use this transport? If so, have you had any problems with it and how does it sound in your systems? Are there any other transports under $3K that anyone can recommend? I will be upgrading the Teac to a Calyx Femto soon (it has been delayed but it should be here next weekend).
 
While I like some of the vintage Wadia gear I'd think very hard before buying a transport that old. I would suggest that you consider a PS Audio Perfect Wave Memory Player. It's a fine sounding transport which reads and buffers the digital data before its output. In addition to playing standard CDs it also allows you to burn and playback high res files up to 24/192 on DVD-R discs. It retails new for $3,999 but should be available new for significantly less since it's been packaged with their DACs at an aggressively discounted price, or you could probably find one used for around $2,000. Definitely worth considering...
 
Yes, I am nervous about buying such an old piece of gear. Especially since parts for it would be difficult if not impossible to find. I will look into the Perfect Wave Audio Player, it sounds like a nice unit, thanks.
 
Albert. I'm a huge fan of Wadia CD player. They built like a tank and one of best red book CD player if you don't need a SACD player I would highly recommend the Wadia as transport and disc player itself.
 
I stumbled across this posting and thought, rather belatedly, that I would add my two cents. I purchased my Wadia 8 transport back in 1994. Wow -- 30 years ago! About a year ago, I thought that the drawer of the drive needed some attention, so I sent my Wadia 8 to George Meyer Audio in Los Angeles. (One of the premier audio equipment repair shops in the US, George Meyer purchased Wadia's entire parts inventory when Wadia went belly-up.) The repair and tune-up cost me about $850, which is expensive, but this CD transport is every bit as good as when it was new. It is built like a tank and now should continue to perform superbly for the next couple of decades.

I subscribe to BlueBook on Audiogon, so I looked up the Wadia 8 transport. There isn't a single resale listed. In doing a Google search as well as checking all of our favorite audiophile sites, no sales are listed -- either currently or historically. I don't think that the reason for this is that they have all been junked; rather, I think that their owners have yet to have come up with a justification for selling them.
 
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A transport in 2024??
Then I looked at the OP and noticed that it was from 2015, nearly 10 years ago.
 
AVphile said:
I stumbled across this posting and thought, rather belatedly, that I would add my two cents. I purchased my Wadia 8 transport back in 1994. Wow -- 30 years ago! About a year ago, I thought that the drawer of the drive needed some attention, so I sent my Wadia 8 to George Meyer Audio in Los Angeles. (One of the premier audio equipment repair shops in the US, George Meyer purchased Wadia's entire parts inventory when Wadia went belly-up.) The repair and tune-up cost me about $850, which is expensive, but this CD transport is every bit as good as when it was new. It is built like a tank and now should continue to perform superbly for the next couple of decades.

I subscribe to BlueBook on Audiogon, so I looked up the Wadia 8 transport. There isn't a single resale listed. In doing a Google search as well as checking all of our favorite audiophile sites, no sales are listed -- either currently or historically. I don't think that the reason for this is that they have all been junked; rather, I think that their owners have yet to have come up with a justification for selling them.
Click to expand...

Original Wadia’s were the Wadax equivalent of the time ..!
 
gadawg said:
Tons of folks I know still use their transports every day … in 2024. :-)

George
Click to expand...
Let’s see. A short ton is 2000 pounds.
Assuming that the average folk weights 200 pounds, that means that 5 people (5x 200) equal one ton.
Extrapolating, “tons of people” equals 10 people (2 tons). I guess you are right!
 
Back to the OP, a streamer’s job is to sent bit-perfect data to the DAC. So even though this product first came out 30 years ago or so, as long as it sends bit-perfect data you are fine.
 
The proposition that CD/SACD transports & players are not used and not purchased frequently in recent years...
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Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk
 
nicoff said:
Let’s see. A short ton is 2000 pounds.
Assuming that the average folk weights 200 pounds, that means that 5 people (5x 200) equal one ton.
Extrapolating, “tons of people” equals 10 people (2 tons). I guess you are right!
Click to expand...

Your math seems to be just as valid as your argument ... lol

George
 
I recently purchased a Bricasti M19 SACD transport, with the intent of having it replace my Wadia 8 (for CDs) and a Theta Digital Compli (for SACDs). I gave away the Compli, but I cannot help but want to hang on to my Wadia 8. To my mind, it is the Mercedes-Benz 600 of CD transports.
 
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