Wadax Munich 2022

[amadeus]

Well, when everything has settled at my side (and that will still take a while) it would be nice to meet again so that I can let you hear the Wadax reference dac under ‘controlled’ circumstances. You might actually like the combination with the Tidal La Assoluta loudspeakers, Kondo amplification and Tripoint grounding. I have the Zanden 2000p transport also connected to the reference dac so we can listen to cd’s if you would prefer this to listening to files.

Would be fine i look forward to hear your updated setup....

 

[Elliot G.]

Would be fine i look forward to hear your updated setup....

you have a big system. DO you have a dealer for Wadax where you live? It should be something that you could arrange to try in your system. I would help but I think I am very far away

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Hi AudioCrack i did listen only to the Wadax Reference Dac and didnt listen to the reference server and also i didnt listen in my own system to any Wadax gear....

I have listened to times at Munchen show i know Javier he is a great friendly guy and he really loves what he is doing! I have heard the Wadax reference Dac 2 times in his setup and both times i was amazed how such a expensief system can sound so distant and so far from the infinity of the musical spectrum no powerful bass, no magical midrange and no sparkling but yet not electric sounding open high frequencies.... if you do not have above mentioned how can you clarify those prices???

are you in market for much, much, better digital? is it seriously important?

you don't clarify where you find these attributes (powerful bass, magical midrange, sparkling open high frequencies). are they currently present in your digital, or only in your vinyl or tape?

your focus on the price of Wadax tells me that it's not so much that you don't like Wadax, but that based on your price based expectations, it falls short. Wadax has asked for these issues by chasing digital perfection without regard to cost, and having to charge enough to run a business. unless someone values digital playback high enough, the numbers are tough to get past. i do. it worked for me after i did my homework.

i'm not disagreeing with your expectations at all, only they have to be in the context of digital alternatives to be relevant to the Wadax case for potential buyers. and to my ears i hear those things from the Wadax in my system, again, relative to alternative digital i have heard. my better vinyl takes things higher for sure.

someone has to (1) be very seriously in the market for the best digital playback, and (2) get a chance to compare the Wadax to their other alternatives, or (3) use all the data points they can to make the best decision.

In your system or in any other system this can be totally different so what i mention is only what i heard those 2 times but not my last judgement!

i hope you get the chance to do that. Wadax might just deliver in that case.

vinyl guys not seriously in the digital market are not likely to cut Wadax any slack, nor should they.

 

[Tango]

There are news which seem nobody have seen….
Wadax have release a new DC cable…
You can see the new one vs the old one in this picture. Wadax Atlantis uses same DC cable from PSU to Dac…
View attachment 93644

You can see another new product…
It seems an AC Conditioner…
So rack should be even bigger….

View attachment 93645

If You want to go all out, you must do QSA fuse and inwall plug too. Even MikeL will be surprised and call out 'Good God!"

 

[exupgh12]

Wadax good looking imposing models build as a tank but to my ears every time i have listened to it sounds open analytical and on the thin side not much magic unless you combine whit other gear that has overly full body tonality....

Big Kharma speakers whit the diamond tweeters costing 400K or much more probably best looking speakers fit and finish is close too perfection but sounds like freezer ,2 dimensional, big 15 inch woofers but no punching and shaking bass performance when the music need it in my opinion for the very rich who likes to impose friends and visitors but whit no knowledge about the deepness and true beauty of music....

Robert Koda: i used to have Robert Koda for many years in my system when i had the K160 Monos i was able to get really high levels of true dynamic and true magical performance but to achieve this i did so much effort on every other parameter of the room electricity grounding resonance control that probably many other amps treated whit the same enerhy effort know how and bulk of money would achieve those levels also costing less than Robert Koda K160.... Robert Koda s best amplifier is and was the Hybrid 3 pieces K70MKII that is a amplifier whit soul magic silence perfect tonality and speed i feel pity that i sold mine...

So if i in my humble opinion sum up the 3 brands in the Wadax room above me may self not being a visitor of Munchen this year i can understand why nobody was touched and involved whit true beauty of music in a system costing far above 1 million dolars...... The summing up of the products natural consequence of a sum it seems to me!

Felt the same, so many ultra setup rooms in Munich failed to deliver, both Kharma rooms failed on the emotion and exciting part of the sound.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Its a show .
The demonstrators try to make the best of what they had , i gave my ranking based on what i heard in munchen after i compared all rooms there
I m not saying its the best sound i ever heard ( with the exeption probably of wadax digital and The gryphon Apex amplification )

Stand outs for me no matter what were Wadax / The gryphon Apex which is a killer amplifier by large margin

 

[Audiocrack]

There are news which seem nobody have seen….
Wadax have release a new DC cable…
You can see the new one vs the old one in this picture. Wadax Atlantis uses same DC cable from PSU to Dac…
View attachment 93644

You can see another new product…
It seems an AC Conditioner…
So rack should be even bigger….

View attachment 93645

There are news which seem nobody have seen….
Wadax have release a new DC cable…
You can see the new one vs the old one in this picture. Wadax Atlantis uses same DC cable from PSU to Dac…
View attachment 93644

You can see another new product…
It seems an AC Conditioner…
So rack should be even bigger….

View attachment 93645

The new Akasa DC reference cable is an optional upgrade to replace the current / standard umbilicals between the dac and it’s two PSU’s. This new DC reference cable can also be employed to connect the reference server and the new reference PSU.

 

[Argonaut]

you don't clarify where you find these attributes (powerful bass, magical midrange, sparkling open high frequencies). are they currently present in your digital, or only in your vinyl or tape?

Why is this relevant Mike ? He is talking about his personal experience with the topic of this thread.

 

[analyzer]

Did you hear in the Gobel room the WADAX and the Kronos TT? With the Kronos the sound in that room was great…

Me too I listened to that room with great satisfaction (so, not only Kronos TT but also Wadax sounded very nice).
It was a pleasure to meet Elliot there.
All the best.
Marco

 

[Gregm]

Me too I listened to that room with great satisfaction (so, not only Kronos TT but also Wadax sounded very nice).

Likewise. In that room, all the elements in the chain were worthy of one another and, as sources, the Kronos & Wadax sounded dynamically very close (within the limitations of the noisy environment, etc).
I also had a brief chat with the ATL and the Goebel people regarding small rooms

Ultimately, the only other digital front end* I identified as being of similar ilk to the Wadax is the Ideon Absolute epsilon + streamer at the Hi-fi deluxe, albeit, the Wadax speaker accompaniments were all in a different league (all of them!).

*just to be clear, I am not bashing the other excellent dacs & streamers out there - hardly that.

 

[gian60]

I listened 3/4 system in Munich with Wadax,but found good but nothing special and no will to buy Wadax while i was shocked listening DS Grand Master in room with medium Zellaton and stereo power amp,i dont remember the name,but would like to buy Grand Master,seems to listen a studer A 820

 

[Alrainbow]

I’m not a dealer but do know ideon as I use there master reclocker
I can’t agree that only the two mentioned were great digital but I also can’t say that the ideon is in the league of wadax in sound
ideon does have a extremely clean focus it’s the hall mark of them and the reclock
to me the wadax is in another league and I’m not a fan of them as yet since I felt I needed much more time to understand what the wadax is playing
when I herd it now 3 times
ideon is a great dac over all to me and has no hint of digital annoying sounds.

 

[christoph]

I’m not a dealer but do know ideon as I use there master reclocker
I can’t agree that only the two mentioned were great digital but I also can’t say that the ideon is in the league of wadax in sound
ideon does have a extremely clean focus it’s the hall mark of them and the reclock
to me the wadax is in another league and I’m not a fan of them as yet since I felt I needed much more time to understand what the wadax is playing
when I herd it now 3 times
ideon is a great dac over all to me and has no hint of digital annoying sounds.

I don't need time to understand, either I like the sound or I don't
Simple as that

 

[Alrainbow]

there is truth to your comment , but the wadax has a sound im not sure where its coming from . its not that i like wadax i dont , but its not needles in my head like bad digital can be . its clear , has good tone , has a non existant noise floor . i owned msb for years over time they had updates as well as new usb inputs . each got me back in . the msb sel 1 was a train reck to me hated it . then quickly came the sel 2 it was again top digital and when they released the red book firm ware it was a wow . now there were and are dacs i prefere over them . but its still great digital .

 

[wil]

Why is this relevant Mike ? He is talking about his personal experience with the topic of this thread.

I think Mike's comments offer some valuable context for the whole "this room sounded great" and "this room sounded like crap" discussion.

It seems to me an Audio Show is about the worst imaginable place one could pick to evaluate a DAC or any other component. Possibly, if you were able to listen to one DAC and then switch out to another DAC in the same system and listen to the same recording....

But that's not going to happen at an Audio Show.

So on this forum, we have a tiny, but very opinionated sample of people (along with the occasional dealer/distributor whose proclamations just might be a bit biased?), sharing comments based on essentially meaningless data.

 

[Argonaut]

I think Mike's comments offer some valuable context for the whole "this room sounded great" and "this room sounded like crap" discussion.

Sorry Wil, thats not how Mikes comments came across to me.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Why is this relevant Mike ? He is talking about his personal experience with the topic of this thread.

just trying to get a better understanding on the reference he is using for these attributes? other digital or vinyl? he does not have to answer, i'm just asking the question. it's at the heart of the point i am making. asking clarification about references is normal.

are expectations for the Wadax different than other digital due to it's price point, especially with serious vinyl focused listeners with serious clear vinyl references? and i think it's fair that they are different, but how is the post reader to know that (unless it's noted) to put the comments in perspective?

 

[Alrainbow]

I have learned to listen past the room and equipment
take ideon as an example
capital show I walked in loved it then looked at what was there
axpona had gia a great speaker hated
the sound but since I know there sound I could look past the room
audio shows are tough but I also think some rooms don’t know how to setup well.

 

[PeterA]

just trying to get a better understanding on the reference he is using for these attributes? other digital or vinyl? he does not have to answer, i'm just asking the question. it's at the heart of the point i am making.

Mike, the reference could also be something else like real music. I do not know about audiophiles, but friends who have listened to various versions of my system basically know what sounds like music and what does not. Now, the way some folks isolate each frequency range and described what they hear at the show makes them sound more like audiophiles picking apart the sound, the way some do when comparing specific components or systems.

What I find interesting, and the reason I read these show threads and digital threads, is just how varied the impressions are, and who defends or attacks what. The difference between the way the impartial listener, the dealer, and the owner of the same gear, discuss a product is quite revealing. I have not gone to a show in years, and I have heard little digital since the virus, but the behavior and comments fascinate me. It also gives insight into the industry, the customer, and those with vested interests who want to influence. These real time show reports are entertaining.

 

[marmota]

View attachment 93633

What's this? Is it a SACD transport?