Auckland’s high-end demonstration

By Michael Jones

June 2007

Wilson Audio Watt/Puppies

Wadia Series 9

Audiophiles in Auckland had the opportunity on May 18 to listen to a hi-fi system valued at more than a quarter of a million dollars. To coincide with a visit from Wilson Audio’s Trent Workman and Australian distributor Simon Kern, Romesh Anandaraja (NZ Wilson agent) and Paul Quilter (Australasian Wadia and VTL distributor) put together the type of system that few in New Zealand would ever have seen or heard.

The source for the system was a CD player from Wadia, comprising of four separate boxes. A 270SE transport (looking much like the Wadia 860 CD player) was used with Wadia’s two-part, three box Series 9 Decoding Computing System. The 931 Digital Controller can also act as a digital preamp, while the mono 921 Decoding Computers handle the conversion of digital signals into analog.

Controlling and powering the system were amplifiers from VTL. The remote controlled TL6.5 preamp fed the mighty Siegfried mono power amplifiers. These huge valve power amps can output 600 watts in eight ohms. Standing some 610mm high (same depth and 290mm wide) and weighing in at some 80kg each, the Siegfried can visually dominate many rooms.

Wilson Audio’s Watt/Puppies – now in their eighth incarnation – must be the best known high end audio speakers in the world. Built upon a base of the Puppie woofer, the Watt, containing a midrange and treble driver, sits atop.

The system was set up late morning and left to settle in while John, my partner in audio crime and I were treated to lunch – hey, there’s got to be some benefit in publishing AudioEnz. When we got back to the room for some listening, the sound was… mediocre. The sound was soft and flabby, no definition in the bass and sounded as if the midrange from the speakers was recessed.

Instead of attending to speaker placement or worrying over other aspects of the setup, Paul and Romesh immediately reached for the Wadia. Built into the Wadia are a number of digital filters. Choosing another digital filter brought the sound back to life.

Now the sound was much better. Singers had both chest and throat to their voices. Bass players were playing notes with definite pitches instead of a drone. And the music gathered momentum and pace.

After putting up with some of those “impressive sound but where’s the music?” CDs that are often used in audiophile demos, both John and I played excerpts from several CDs of real music. These ranged from a recent Cyndi Lauper CD that can cause problems for many systems, through the Mahler’s second symphony to a mono 1957 recording of Ella and Louis, backed by some of the best jazz musicians of the time.

That evening, some 70 dedicated audiophiles arrived to listen to the system. As the sound was best in a small area of the seating, the visitors regularly played revolving chairs. “In the sweet spot it was magic,” said one audiophile visitor, adding that it was “emotionally so good” that he didn’t want to leave his seat. The last listeners were finally tossed out around midnight.

It’s been a long time since a high end system has been assembled for public listening. Congratulations to Paul Quilter and Romesh Anandaraja for putting this together.

Source: www.audioenz.co.nz