Wadax Munich 2022

[PeterA]

View attachment 93632

Perhaps WADAX should design an integrated rack for their stack just as Kronos has done for their flagship. Something that will complement or enhance performance which they would then control.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Perhaps WADAX should design an integrated rack for their stack just as Kronos has done for their flagship. Something that will complement or enhance performance which they would then control.

Peter have you heard Wadax ?
You as a natural sound lover gonna like it ithink .
Its the first digital i ve ever heard where id think , why bother with all those tapes / machines , LP s Record players

 

[PeterA]

Peter have you heard Wadax ?
You as a natural sound lover gonna like it ithink .
Its the first digital i ve ever heard where id think , why bother with all those tapes / machines , LP s Record players

No, I have not heard it. One of my friends heard it right around the time Mike Lavigne heard it for the first time. He gave me his impressions. I think my local dealer has it, so I might check it out after the summer. It seems like a complete system for a source component which is why I made the suggestion of an integral rack system the way Kronos did it for their turntable.

 

[Elliot G.]

Perhaps WADAX should design an integrated rack for their stack just as Kronos has done for their flagship. Something that will complement or enhance performance which they would then control.

those racks at the event were made by Kronos so I am sure they could build a rack for your Wadax system if that was what you required.

 

[PeterA]

those racks at the event were made by Kronos so I am sure they could build a rack for your Wadax system if that was what you required.

Hello Elliot, I do not have a WADAX system. I’ve just looked at a lot of photographs and followed threads about this top DAC system. There seem to be a lot of boxes and connections and shelf space required. You posted a photograph right next to a Kronos vinyl system that requires a lot of rack and shelf space with its integrated rack, so I simply made the suggestion that perhaps WADAX and their customers would find some value in an integral rack system to support their flagship product that requires so much rack space. I think it would be kind of cool and a very interesting design exercise with the potential of adding value to the product.

 

[Elliot G.]

Hello Elliot, I do not have a WADAX system. I’ve just looked at a lot of photographs and followed threads about this top DAC system. There seem to be a lot of boxes and connections and shelf space required. You posted a photograph right next to a Kronos vinyl system that requires a lot of rack and shelf space with its integrated rack, so I simply made the suggestion that perhaps WADAX and their customers would find some value in an integral rack system to support their flagship product that requires so much rack space. I think it would be kind of cool and a very interesting design exercise with the potential of adding value to the product.

could be but , and I wont speak for them, they do run a business and that is probably not on the agenda. Their are companies that do that stuff and for the end users probably would be a lot easier and less expensive as well. Their are many excellent rack type products made and perhaps one of them could make a Wadax stand/rack. Kronos does machining in house so for them in makes sense.

 

[morricab]

Interesting...as much as I prefer the Robert Kodas over our prior Mephisto...my instinct tells me that the Kharmas need raw grunt power which the Mephisto has. I have noticed in our system, we really fine tuned the system when the Robert Kodas came in whereby today the bass propulsion power is [finally] stunning and far more articulate and natural than with the Mephisto...but it took some doing. It is definitely not a drop in replacement.

Speaker placement, sub adjustment really needed to be more precisely executed. Additionally, grounding with Tripoint and particularly the Entreq Plutons/Tungsten has also made a tremendous difference in regard to depth, density of tonal color and bass propulsion/drive. Tremendous...and I would say 'required reading' for any owners of the Robert Koda electronics. They are a magic combination.

I could imagine from the little experience over the last 9 months of the Robert Koda that dropping it into a hotel room would be a challenge. The RK is a sublime amplifier with extreme refinement in my experience...Robert K clearly designed it never to overpower any other components but rather to deliver its special magic by effortlessly revealing, unraveling and uncovering...and thus it can be deceptively easy to get it set up where the sound goes wrong (flat) because it will not push or drive the sound forward of its own but only send as much of the original signal forward unblemished, untouched as it receives. Its very, very, VERY rewarding when you get it right...but I think it can take real dedication to get a system there. Particularly in sending forward the bass.

I have dropped multiple Gryphons into multiple different systems, and I always enjoyed it when I did...but you could also sense the Gryphon signature at work -- for me a good thing (actually a GREAT thing). But if you're looking for signature-less, you can detect it once you get to know it.
For me, it has been much harder to detect a signature (for me at least yet) with the Robert Koda.

Don’t know…that same speaker sounded poor in the Kharma room too.

 

[morricab]

Hello Elliot, I do not have a WADAX system. I’ve just looked at a lot of photographs and followed threads about this top DAC system. There seem to be a lot of boxes and connections and shelf space required. You posted a photograph right next to a Kronos vinyl system that requires a lot of rack and shelf space with its integrated rack, so I simply made the suggestion that perhaps WADAX and their customers would find some value in an integral rack system to support their flagship product that requires so much rack space. I think it would be kind of cool and a very interesting design exercise with the potential of adding value to the product.

If I had that kind of money to blow on a source that Kronos would be at the top of my list…it was very very good. Louis told me the phonostage was designed by True Life Audio (TLA) who also did the hybrid amps in that room.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Hello Elliot, I do not have a WADAX system. I’ve just looked at a lot of photographs and followed threads about this top DAC system. There seem to be a lot of boxes and connections and shelf space required. You posted a photograph right next to a Kronos vinyl system that requires a lot of rack and shelf space with its integrated rack, so I simply made the suggestion that perhaps WADAX and their customers would find some value in an integral rack system to support their flagship product that requires so much rack space. I think it would be kind of cool and a very interesting design exercise with the potential of adding value to the product.

Peter, with your architecture background, and observing the classy holistic room and system set-up you use, the Wadax chassis chaos has to hit 'tilt' for you, and cry out for some relief. how to make sense of it? for myself, having now lived with the complete Wadax assembly for 5 months, i am driven to find a solution that i like visually. my Adona racks, Daiza platforms and RevOpod footers are doing the performance side already at 100%. but am i getting the full enjoyment of the majestic look of my Wadax stuff?

not exactly a true life crisis, or about world peace, but it 'seems' important none-the-less. and know that i've thought a lot about it. even going to a single tt with 3/4 arms to allow for a more aesthetic overall look.....has crossed my mind. i want my gear rack to look as good as it sounds.

btw; there are plenty of high quality rack systems that offer customizations sufficient enough to accommodate the full Monty Wadax and even allow for expansion. i don't think it makes sense for Wadax to invest their time and efforts try to answer a question already well answered in the marketplace. they should stay in their lane.

will i ever do anything about it? here is how these things go. i do my research, spin the wheels of a few people about racks, but just as i'm about to do something, another performance enhancing opportunity will present itself and push this 'visual' thing to the really back burner.

when it is a question of 'show' or 'go'.......GO always wins.....for me.

YMMV

we do see MSB has their own rack system, but also their own integral preamp, and their own amplifiers. and their smaller chassis lend themselves to a brand solution. so it's different.

 

[Audiocrack]

these are some of the Wadax set ups at the show. I did not take a pic in the Avantguard nor Kroma rooms ( did not get to Kroma)

Elliot, what is possible for you to get some or maybe even a good idea about what the new PSU for the reference server brought (extra) to the table? Possibly a question difficult to answer due to the (unfamiliar) show conditions but nevertheless I would like to ask you this question.

 

[Elliot G.]

Elliot, what is possible for you to get some or maybe even a good idea about what the new PSU for the reference server brought (extra) to the table? Possibly a question difficult to answer due to the (unfamiliar) show conditions but nevertheless I would like to ask you this question.

I will be happy to tell you my thoughts when I get one in my system but there is no way for me to do that in a system I have never listened to before at a show. I did think that system sounded very good on Sunday afternoon when I stopped in and listened for a while .

 

[Elliot G.]

There is a point here that I think needs to be restated. The gear in these rooms is IMO excellent however just because the gear is does not mean the system integration and the room/gear system set up is. There are people that do that much better than others and I think this becomes evident at shows.
It is a very different set of skills guys.

 

[Audiocrack]

I will be happy to tell you my thoughts when I get one in my system but there is no way for me to do that in a system I have never listened to before at a show. I did think that system sounded very good on Sunday afternoon when I stopped in and listened for a while .

Fair enough.

 

[morricab]

Peter have you heard Wadax ?
You as a natural sound lover gonna like it ithink .
Its the first digital i ve ever heard where id think , why bother with all those tapes / machines , LP s Record players

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

 

[andromedaaudio]

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

Yes , i was there i said hello to Eliott.
It sounded nice

 

[amadeus]

Most interesting! I am still getting to know the Robert Kodas and always respect other people's experiences with equipment. What drove you to toe other efforts on 'every other parameter'? Was there something about the Robert Koda that (on its own) did some seem complete?

So that we can 'calibrate' what did you think of the K160s vs the Mephisto (which we both own/owned). Thanks for your listening notes and perhaps experiences with the Robert Koda K160s. I am definitely enjoying ours.

Hi Lloyd i think both Mephisto and K160 are great amps but Mephisto K160 is on the expensief side....

 

[amadeus]

Hi Amadeus, may I please ask you the following:
- Did you listen only to the Wadax reference dac or (also) to the Wadax reference server and dac combo with Akasa interlink?
- In what (kind of) audio system (or maybe systems) were the Wadax components employed that you listened to?
- Were you able to listen to the Wadax reference component(s) in a private set up or (only) under show conditions?

I am asking because the Wadax reference dac and server - as the three reviews by Lincoln Chen, Roy Gregory and Robert Harley also unanimously agreed - sound imho not at all analytical or thin. On the contrary I would say: apparently free from the usual digital artifacts the Wadax reference combination sounds to my ears remarkable open, dynamic, fluid, serene, ‘stressfree’ and - I suppose partly due to its incredible (articulate and deep) low end foundation - with great density and ‘push’. I know that (i) you are a great vinyl lover and (ii) the Wadax combo is not sounding analog in the classical sense, but I have never in my life heard digital sounding as impressive and as beautiful (notwithstanding the fact that my reference dac is still being played in (burning in process takes quite a while).

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???
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!

 

[morricab]

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???
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!

Hmmm…sounds like what I heard in Munich…

 

[Audiocrack]

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???
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!

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.

 

[Stereophonic]

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…


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