Part 1: The cherry, on the icing, on the cake…
By Roy Gregory
Whatever else you might think or say about the Wadax Reference Transport, one thing is indisputable: it’s not for the faint hearted. From its distinctive appearance to its near 90kg/200lb weight, it’s ancillary demands to its pip-squeezing cost, it left considerations of practicality and economy firmly outside the entrance portal of a long and complex design process. In this day and age, where high-end pricing is genuinely stratospheric and the market is flooded with products whose sole raison d’être seems to be a vain attempt to justify a six-figure price tag, it would be easy to dismiss the Reference Transport as another ludicrously expensive and, in this case, largely irrelevant vanity product – the sort of thing the super-rich audiophile buys simply because he’s already bought everything else…
Hey, it’s easier to ignore products that are beyond affordability than take them seriously. Except that in this case, there are good reasons to give this latest excursion beyond the digital horizon a second look. For starters, Wadax has a proven track record when it comes to defying expectations and redefining performance possibilities. The Reference DAC was easy to laugh off – until you heard it. The Reference Server set new standards for file replay. The Studio Player has successfully translated those performance benefits to a far more affordable price level. Now, the Reference Transport threatens to redefine what’s possible from optical disc replay. Look that little bit closer and it soon becomes apparent that there’s a reason behind every aspect of its design and execution – and that reason is performance. Meanwhile, for all those who question the basic relevance of optical disc replay in a wider, global (and audio) landscape dominated by file-replay, it’s also worth noting that Wadax are not alone in treading this path. The arch, Swiss, technological pragmatists CH Precision have launched their own, equally Bauhaus assault on the state of optical disc replay, in the shape of their D10 transport, a product that has more than a little conceptual common in ground with the Wadax offering.
At which point this becomes something more than an academic exercise, an example of what is possible. At least two credible companies believe that we’ve yet to see the last (or best) of optical disc replay – and are prepared to put considerable development funds behind that belief. Despite initial assumptions, the Wadax Reference Transport is no lone voice in the wilderness. It’s not even a lone voice within the Wadax range. Look closer and it becomes obvious that the Reference Transport represents (or at least attempts) a significant advance in both mechanical/electrical and system approach. It is a standalone product, but it is not – at least not in any sensible way – a standalone solution. But then, so too is CH Precisions D10. Nobody in their right mind is going to use these transports with anything other than their matching DACs – at least not if they want to hear them at their best.
