Great Northern Sound Co. Mods for Wadia

Hillyg: Steve maintains a website @ www.greatnorthernsound.com Best Wishes...

where can i find the great northern sound co

I purchased a standard modification Wadia 850 player from Steve Huntley. I have no reference to what the player sounded like prior to the modifications. They player as modified provides music from a dead silent "black" background; very realistic, very much like live music. There is a 'palpability' to the music that makes it sound very real to me. I use the player driving my amplifier directly, and eliminating the preamp definately increases the immediacy of the sound, and provides excellent microdynamics. Mr. Huntley was extremely knowledgeable, he told me he had worked on the design of the Wadia 850 player when he worked for Wadia, so he knows the unit as well as anyone. It was a pleasure doing business with Steve Huntley, and I feel I really got a bargain on the player. I can not adequately express how much like real music (especially vocals) the sound of the modified player is. I am considering using Great Northern Sound Co. to modify a ARC VT 100 MkII.

Hello, I just got my Wadia 830 back from Mr. Huntley, and am very pleased with the results. I had the "reference" mod performed, and I must say it was worth every penny--stayed up till 1AM last nite listening, and it's been a LONG time since I've done that! The improvements noted above are accurate: smoother, more transparent, and greater extension at the frequency extremes. The bass improvement in particular is outstanding. In addition, the sound is noticeably more analog in qualtiy. Overall, a spectacular improvement. (BTW, if you do business with Steve, tell him that Dan C. said you will be expecting a "reference" power cord with your package!) Best Wishes...

My Wadia 861 was modified from Steve Huntley a few weeks ago. A few weeks before that Wadia (those poor souls) upgraded it to an 861 from the 860. Steve and I had been discussing an upgrade to the player for many months prior as I was holding out for Wadia's upgrade. Now working with Steve was a pleasure. The modifications were pretty extensive. The modifications enlisted really top shelf parts and also cleaned up the alot of the signal path and critical cicuitry quite nicely. The player did not go through a real long break in after the modifications. Now the player does bass drums, cymbals, vocalists etc. with an awesome realism factor for 16 bit digital. I still can't believe the transformation. The greatest areas of improvement are at the frequency extremes also in the player's smoothness and much deeper transparency. I would definately use him again.

Hello, Steve at Great Northern sound has done a couple of mods for me (extensive) and you can trust what he says he can do for you. I believe he worked for Wadia at one time. Good Luck