Now let’s look at exactly how I tried to both minimise the impact of those variables and maximise musical performance when it came to comparing the D1.5 and Studio Player.
First order of business was placement. The listening was going to take place in the Reading Room, where the main rack is the HRS RXR, in a three high, two bay arrangement. That allowed me to place the two players, side by side on the two top shelves, eliminating that particular performance differential. Not hard to do – but you do need to know that it needs doing! After that, it was a question of optimizing physical support and mechanical grounding. The D1.5 has its own integral levelling and grounding spikes and these were used to couple it to the supporting shelf. The feet on the Wadax Studio Player were replaced with Acouplex cones, as detailed in the installation notes for the unit. In each case I tried the player on an HRS RS shelf, a bamboo platform and an Acouplex shelf. Both players worked best on the latter support – but if one had, for instance, preferred the RS shelf, then that’s what I would have used. Yes, that introduces a variable – but it is also a big part of getting each unit to sound its best.
With support considerations dealt with, it was time to place each unit precisely on its shelf (checking that the central location sounded best) and then get each one really, really level, with all four feet equally loaded. Easy enough with the CH, the curved and profiled top-plate of the Wadax is a bit more demanding, but again, that’s covered in the installation notes. In either case, you are going to need a superior level and, as usual, I relied on Level Developments to do the business.
I eliminated variations between interconnects and inputs simply by using the same set of interconnects for both players. With the top-shelf placement, cable swaps were easily accomplished. More of an issue was the AC connection. I opted for symmetrically placed sockets on the Nordost QB10, first swapping between the sockets to ensure that they weren’t unduly affecting the outcome. But there’s more to the hook up than this. With the Wadax demanding balanced connection (an external module offering single-ended RCA and headphone outputs is in the works, but don’t hold your breath…) I chose to use the CH Precision L1/X1 line-stage. The Studio Player offers variable output level and adjustable output impedance, while the L1 allows users to set input impedance (600Ω or 94kΩ) as well as input sensitivity. On paper, both the D1.5 and Studio Player deliver a 4V output, but in practice the Wadax sounds noticeably louder – 2.5dB louder! It also prefers the 600Ω input impedance on the L1, where the D1.5 definitely prefers the higher value.
Each swap between the two players thus came to require switching the cables, changing the input impedance and adjusting the volume level – all while maintaining the units’ position and state of level. Track selections were entered manually, using the CH’s rotary control and the next buttons on the Studio Player’s touch screen.
“Our opinions become fixed at the point where we stop thinking.” Ernest Renan
So far so good. The rest of the system (I used either Trilogy 995R mono-blocs to drive, or a pair of CH A1.5s to bi-amp the Peak Consult Sinfonias, with Nordost V2 cabling throughout) was set up and I paid particular attention to any positional bias in terms of speaker location. In this instance, once everything was warm, I was happy to leave the speakers in a single location, easing the comparisons but also adding consistency to the results. But there’s a story to that “once everything was warm” comment. Burn in and warm up are two aspects of component performance that reviewers need to factor into their activities, especially with brand new units. The Wadax had had the benefit of considerable running in the Music Room, before it was installed in the Reading Room. In this case, it was the benchmark D1.5 that needed to warm up, to such an extent that the evolution of the comparison across five days was frankly astonishing, changing the conclusions drawn dramatically.
