Wadia WT-3200

i cant find much of anything on the net, its not even listed on the Wadia web site. anyone know of or have any info on this unit?

I think I remember that being Wadia´s first Transport unit, and the one that put them on the map. One heck of a Transport using an early and great Philips CDM-Pro 4 ( I believe ) transport mechanism.

Wadia has used most of the best transports in their players throughout the years:

Wadia WT-3200, Phillips
Wadia WT-2000, Phillips
Wadia-6, TEAC VRDS
Wadia-7, TEAC VRDS
Wadia-8, TEAC VRDS
Wadia-16, TEAC VRDS
Wadia-20, TEAC VRDS
Wadia-22, Pioneer stable platter
Wadia-23, Pioneer stable platter
Wadia-270, TEAC VRDS CMK-3.2 (modified)
Wadia-301, Pioneer stable platter
Wadia-302, Phillips VAE-1250
Wadia-301, Pioneer stable platter
Wadia 830, Pioneer stable platter
Wadia-850, TEAC VRDS CMK-4
Wadia-860, TEAC VRDS CMK-4
Wadia-861, TEAC VRDS CMK-3.2

If you have a lead on one you owe it to yourself to give it a listen. It should work wonders with your EAD DAC. I´m envious.




Jorge

thats exactly what i was thinking. since an audition was not possible i brokered a deal. i should have it by Saturday, next Monday at the very latest!

I hate you.

Here's what i find about that model :

About Some tweaks on Wadia WT3200

"And that would include:

Separate power supply: if you take the PS to a nice box outside the CDP, you´ll have more than enough room to place a bigger power transfo, as many and as big capacitors as you want (this means BGs, Cerafines if you can find them, or any other brand or type you want) and, as an extra, you´ll have no interference between PS and anything inside your CDP. That alone will make a big difference.
Clocking: The WADIA 3200 benefits a lot from a better clock. In fact, later WADIA machines incorporate a clocking circuit which looks very much like the Trichord Clock 3. I´ve found LCAudio´s LClock to be clearly better, especially if you use its own dedicated power supply. Just keep wiring from clock to PCB as short as possible.

Digital output: it´s quite good as it is; so, no need to modify. Just make sure that you use a good digital interconnect, like KIMBER D60.

Laser unit: as this unit uses the same laser as MARANTZ CD94, and it is no longer available. Anyhow, it is possible to buy just the optics, and it is not so expensive. I don´t have the address at hand now, but if you are interested, I´ll find it for you. WT32000 is a really fine unit and, once modified, it´s not easy to beat, at no matter what price; so, it´s worth making sure that you´ll be able to use it for a long time and, as the only part that will suffer wear by use is the laser, you´ll be safer with a spere one. "

Quote from a magazine.

An interesting page about Wadia and more :
http://www.greatnorthernsound.com/wadia.html

"You`re in luck Sean, as the retailer who sold me the WT3200 is a Theta dealer who I had a long chat with me regarding Transports - after I`d already bought the Wadia by the way. We agreed that modern hi-fi was becoming too `bland` and polite for want of a better word, and the comparison he made to me was "....the Wadia`s better in most respects than our own Theta Pearl, which is a good seller for us.......it just seems to me that the best of the older gear possesses music-making qualities that seem to have been forgotten in my opinion....". Yes, the Wadia is older but look inside and you`ll see how well made it is, copper-clad and that CDM1 mechanism is a joy to watch with the lid off. Anything goes wrong and most decent audio-engineers can put it right, or Marantz CD95`s are cheap as chips second-hand sharing most parts. The point is though, the only moving part in the Wadia is possibly the most dependable mechanism available - transports haven`t really improved over the years and mechanisms become cheaper and more flimsy in my experience, plastic replaces alloy, components become cheaper etc. Notwithstanding any concerns you may have - and I can sense you`re leaning towards the Pearl - in a blind listening situation I`m confident you`d prefer the Wadia. "

Quote from another forum.

"Here is what one observer had to say about a slightly later model:
"When I had the Wadia WT3200 transport it was easy to distinguish between DACs, and this is primarily why I used a ten year old Deltec PDM2 despite comparing it to the latest and greatest over the course of five years or so.
I thought maybe I was an oddball for not recognising/accepting the superiority of the latest DACs, and it's refreshing to read now that the earlier Philips TDA chips as used in the Deltec, are widely regarded as being more analogue when used in the better DACs.
It wasn't until I compared the Deltec with the Audio Note DAC3.1x that the old girl was retired, and the improvement when upgrading to the DAC4.1x was again very obvious when using the Wadia transport."

Another quote from another page.

Hope it help.

This post has been edited by clint e. on September 10, 2007 12:22 pm

thanks Alvaro, very good stuff there!

You're Scott.
Of course there's a page with all the info about this model, but you have to spend some dollars.

Just take a look at :

http://www.audiocircuit.com/index.php?c=WA...0&m=WT-2000#bla

...and an interesting pic from inside :

This post has been edited by clint e. on September 10, 2007 01:23 pm

Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

Funny- I just read about this brand.

Great score!!!!

yeah, i know next to nothing about this unit but Wadia carries a solid reputation. it was one of those things that came up, and i was confident in a "worst case scenario" that i could get my money out it. after reading up on it (thanks again Alvaro) i am even more anxious to try it out.

I tell you Scott, you wont regret it.
'Till a few years ago the WT3200 was the reference transport used not only by Stereophile but also by many others, to make serious reviews about dac's, amps or speakers...

Absolutely.

15-20 years ago the only other comparable unit was probably the very, very rare and expensive Marantz CD-12, which curiously, used the same Philips mechanism.

I understand most of the units using the Philips CD-4 swing arm mechanism are still running.

If I´m allowed the indiscretion, Scott, how much have you paid for it?

Jorge

total to my door was $475.

Very good price!
In Europe it's not easy to find that model, but sometimes on ebay you can find one of those between 500€ and 800€ plus shipping.

Here's one.

Here's another

Congrats.

Quite an amazing unit, it seems. INcredibly well regarded.

Well worth the money with praise like that.

Excellent!

thanks guys. i knew the price was good so i had to act fast if i wanted it. just got a tracking number, it will be here next Tuesday.