Wadax Reference Dac and Server arrive

[rando]

sure. it's boring mundane stuff. but it is my own ongoing Wadax integration related process that is part of the picture. agree it does not provide as many thrills and chills as other parts.

Carrying 200K of sensitive equipment in your hands every week fully satisfies any definition of thrilling and chilling I can think of!

Without being around in years past I wasn't quite sure if putting the puzzle together multiple ways is part of the fun for you. Designing your room and slowly putting together all the pieces entailed quite a bit of thought. To me the continuation of this was more interesting than the actual purchase. Your statement on losing sight of album art made me wonder if broader implications might be something you wished to openly discuss in the vein of Wadax related changes.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Carrying 200K of sensitive equipment in your hands every week fully satisfies any definition of thrilling and chilling I can think of!

Without being around in years past I wasn't quite sure if putting the puzzle together multiple ways is part of the fun for you. Designing your room and slowly putting together all the pieces entailed quite a bit of thought. To me the continuation of this was more interesting than the actual purchase. Your statement on losing sight of album art made me wonder if broader implications might be something you wished to openly discuss in the vein of Wadax related changes.

sometimes my posting is just thinking out loud. i have struggles internally between just listening, and being a perfectionist about everything being optimized. i'm sure it's a character flaw, one of many.

 

[Ron Resnick]

i know Wadax recommends them too. so feeling positive about this direction.

Wadax officially recommends a third-party footer?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Wadax officially recommends a third-party footer?

here is what Roy Gregory wrote in his review.....

In this case, the jungle drums suggested the optimum solution without my spending hours in experimentation. The vocal, online Wadax community are big fans of the Arya Audio RevOpods, conical footers that screw to the underside of your units and deliver superior mechanical coupling and the neatest leveling facility I’ve yet come across. The only downside is that in the case of the Reference DAC and Transport combination, you’ll need 20 of them.

here is what Robert Harley wrote in his review....



here is what Lincoln Cheng wrote in his Wadax review (the google translator messed it up.....but there it is again).

Wadax's turntable and decoder are equipped with large stainless steel feet from the original car. After comparison, I replaced the turntable with Ayra Audio's RevOpod feet and the decoder with Finite Element's Cerabase Slimline.

yep, no coincidence about it.

 

[Ron Resnick]

here is what Roy Gregory wrote in his review.....



here is what Robert Harley wrote in his review....

View attachment 88759

here is what Lincoln Teng wrote in his Wadax review (the google translator messed it up.....but there it is again).



yep, no coincidence about it.

Thank you!

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Thank you!

it is not normal for a manufacturer to actually endorse a footer specifically. but if you really look at the Wadax design, and the support challenges, it's in Wadax's best interest to assist the reviewer or end user with the right tools for the job. in this case a specialized footer is required.

can you imagine the variability in levels of performance if each user has to research this for themselves? Wadax needed to point the way.

here's why this happened IMHO.

the Wadax dac and server chassis are very unusual in their shape. left and right tall chassis connected in the middle with a raised section. i'm guessing there are performance advantages to this design to make the challenges it then presents worth it in the long run. the aesthetics and resonance control challenges for such a shape are considerable. setting aside our viewpoints on how it looks, for footers you somehow have to both level both sides, and spread the chassis pressure equally across those footers.

hence the RevOpods which seem to be the right tool.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I have no dog in this hunt, obviously. But if that footer is unambiguously the right product to improve the Wadax, in view of the premium asking price of the device, I wonder why doesn't Wadax install it on an OEM basis and make it a standard part of the Wadax package?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I have no dog in this hunt, obviously. But if that footer is unambiguously the right product to improve the Wadax, in view of the premium asking price of the device, I wonder why doesn't Wadax install it on an OEM basis and make it a standard part of the Wadax package?

it makes the already tall Wadax chassis that much taller. and for many buyers they will remove any footers so it fits in the rack space. some users are like me and want it optimized for resonance, but many are not that concerned. the 'install look' is everything. and take your shoes off too.

if you can spend 200 large, $7k more for 24 footers is not going to stop you. and footer technology advances. my Tana platforms will surpass the RevOpods, but i'd need at least 3 of them.

 

[Audiocrack]

Wadax officially recommends a third-party footer?

As far as I know they do not Ron. I talked about it with Javier on the phone and he is (no surprise of course) of the opinion that the standard footers supplied by Wadax are very good.

Btw, you do not need to order 8 RevOpods for the reference dac and server: in stead of using 8 footers on both sides of the bottom plates you can employ 4 footers on the inside of both bottom plates if you wish.

 

[Audiocrack]

And to supply some background info about such a possible wish: I am planning to do something special as regards the platforms for the reference dac and its two PSU’s. In these nasty COVID-times my plan is not going to be achieved easily and will be quite costly. In view of this employing the 4 inner footers provides the possibility for smaller platforms and therefore hopefully a better chance to realize my plan.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

And to supply some background info about such a possible wish: I am planning to do something special as regards the platforms for the reference dac and its two PSU’s. In these nasty COVID-times my plan is not going to be achieved easily and will be quite costly. In view of this employing the 4 inner footers provides the possibility for smaller platforms and therefore hopefully a better chance to realize my plan.

Morning Rudolph. Just catching up on the latest on the Wadax thread with my morning coffee. You can’t leave us hanging in this episode lol. Pray tell us of your new plan!

Best.

 

[Audiocrack]

Morning Rudolph. Just catching up on the latest on the Wadax thread with my morning coffee. You can’t leave us hanging in this episode lol. Pray tell us of your new plan!

Best.

Good morning, Bill, enjoy your coffee! I am about to go in a conference call so just a quick reply. Please allow me for now to keep this plan to myself. Not sure if I will be able to pull it of in the near future : due to COVID, it seems, some materials are very hard to get and very expensive while it looks (somewhat) silly if I - in the end - cannot achieve the desired set up. Clearly the idea is to create an ‘ideal’ environment for the Wadax reference dac. As soon as I will get it done, I will inform you.

 

[bryans]

Btw, you do not need to order 8 RevOpods for the reference dac and server: in stead of using 8 footers on both sides of the bottom plates you can employ 4 footers on the inside of both bottom plates if you wish.

If one is spending this kind of money for Wadax, trying to save on 4 footers shouldn't even be an option. I'm more surprised the footers aren't a standard option.

 

[Audiocrack]

If one is spending this kind of money for Wadax, trying to save on 4 footers shouldn't even be an option. I'm more surprised the footers aren't a standard option.

Sure, I fully get your point as regards trying to save on four footers. But my/the reasoning for maybe using only four footers in stead of the usual eight has nothing to do with the footers themselves but with the (high) costs of the various platforms that I am considering.

And Wadax is supplying their reference dac and server of course with footers, albeit they are not the RevOpods. Do not know yet if and potentially how much better the RevOpods are. The reviews (indeed) suggest that the difference for the better is rather significant. I am surely going to try them out.

 

[Steve Vu]

There is the new update version of Roon. I am in holidays so I do not know if it improves SQ or not.

 

[Kawero]

There is the new update version of Roon. I am in holidays so I do not know if it improve SQ or not.

I think it sounds better, at least in my system

 

[Mike Lavigne]

There is the new update version of Roon. I am in holidays so I do not know if it improve SQ or not.

got it. listened briefly, could not yet determine any change.

the notes about it don't suggest any performance gains with my brief review.

 

[Elliot G.]

I have not tried any footer/resonance control under my Wadax pieces but I am planning to try out of curiosity. I would like to hear Mike's opinion when he tries them and I do plan on trying some choices for myself so that I can properly advise my current and future clients if they choose to do this as well.
I have also order the new Nordost network switch as well to see if that might actually improve the system as well. They will be shipping shortly I believe as well.

 

[econom]

I have installed the Arya labs RevOpods under my Wadax Arcadia dac sitting on an HRS rack and the upgrade was substantial

 

[Stereophonic]

A detail about my experience with Revopods shared by Arthur from Arya Audio Labs.
“You are right in that there is a slight difference in the path the energy takes when screwed in all the way. The difference is that the inner moving part is in direct contact with the top part of the RevOpod when fully screwed in hence more direct coupling while when you screw it out a little the path takes a ‘detour’ through the side of the RevOpod which indeed could have an impact”
So, i don’t recommend to install Revs fully screwed in. Just a little screw out is enough to let Revs works as it are designed…
Silicon top ring isn’t recommended too.
As always, listening is best option to be sure this experience recommendation is better.
Hope this helps….