Budget system around the Venere

[Venere]

Originally Posted by Bavarian05

+1 I am a big Diana Krall fan and have seen her three times. She's headed here in Minneapolis at the Orpheum in July I think to promote her new "Wallflower" album. Both her and Patricia Barber are very talented ladies. If you have not already, grab a CD or even better the 45 RPM vinyl version of "Live in Paris". Wonderful material and a very cool version of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You".

Just picked up that CD over the weekend. Great stuff. Much more jazz heavy than her studio recordings with more room for her piano playing which is quite good. There is also a bluray of Live in Paris that I'm sure i will end up with eventually. 😄. Other fave CDs so far are The Look of Love, Quiet Nights (both of which are very bosso nova influenced with arrangements by Jobim's old arranger Claus Ogerman) and the new one Wallflower is wonderful. Will make every effort to see her live now that I know how good she is. No idea why it took me so long to catch on to her.

[Venere]

Originally Posted by antipop

Since he's in the discovery phase and it's his first "investment", I'm trying to tell him that he just can't listen to every amp ever created in perfect conditions for comparison. He's having fun nonetheless.

Not to be a total fanboy but your friend might want to check out the review of the Hegel H160 at Hi-Fi+. Alan Sircom rather liked it. Its my understanding that it is essentially just a more powerful big brother to the H80. Which one is a better fit just depends on budget and the speakers that need to be driven.

[antipop]

Finally he went with the Wadia Intuition 01.

He listened to a large selection of amps and this was the one he preferred above all the rest.

I was quite surprised as he put it above the Accuphase E460+DC37 DAC ! He must be crazy. He found the Accuphase to be too warm and not punchy enough. It's a first

I preferred the Gato to the Wadia but it all winds down to individual taste. Plus he got an impressive deal on the Wadia.

Now he's finishing the redecoration in the house and he will have them installed soon. I don't think this is a budget system anymore.

[bart]

Haha Georges!
The Wadia is around 8K.
That's entering high end level indeed!

The Wadia is not bad at all you know.
I heard it with Wilson Audio Sophias on a show and it sounded really good.

But I would have picked the Accuphase.

[antipop]

Originally Posted by bart

Haha Georges!
The Wadia is around 8K.
That's entering high end level indeed!

The Wadia is not bad at all you know.
I heard it with Wilson Audio Sophias on a show and it sounded really good.

But I would have picked the Accuphase.

The Wadia is pretty good and it is punching above its weight. My guess is that the DAC section is exceptional. He was impressed by the soundstage it throws.

I would have picked the Accuphase but even without any budget consideration he preferedthe Wadia. The Accuphase system was twice the price of the Wadia.

[bart]

Georges, is he still considering the Veneres?
Or has he also heard other (more expensive) options?

With the Wadia, he of course has a DAC, pre -, and poweramp in one gorgeous looking box.
I don't think the Wadia does streaming, as the Devialet does, or am I mistaken?

[antipop]

Originally Posted by bart

Georges, is he still considering the Veneres?
Or has he also heard other (more expensive) options?

With the Wadia, he of course has a DAC, pre -, and poweramp in one gorgeous looking box.
I don't think the Wadia does streaming, as the Devialet does, or am I mistaken?

He bought the Venere as soon as he heard them. They fit right into his budget and he liked the sound so he preferred not losing too much time looking elsewhere.

You are correct about the Wadia. It doesn't do streaming. Still you get almost everything in a sleek package.

The Wadia will allow him to move to the Olympica one day if he wants to.

The main drawback I see with the Wadia is that you cannot use it as a DAC or Pre only. If someone wants to upgrade the amp part, he needs to upgrade everything at once.