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Review: Great Northern Sound Co. Wadia 860 CD Player

Category: Digital

For all of you now currently using Wadia cd players, I have found a way to make them sound even better.
I have owned Wadia 860s and 861s in the past, and after having recently sold my 861, I was unable to find anything else to put in its place, that I was satisfied with, so I started looking around for another Wadia.
I noticed that Steve Huntley, at the Great Northern Sound Company, had an 860 that he was performing his mods on.
For all you who may not be familiar with Steve, he is a former Wadia employee who has a series of modifications for Wadias.
I had always been a little skeptical as to how you could really improve on the Wadia performance, but was also very curious to audition one of Steve's players.
Well, I am glad to admit, that I was skeptical for no reason, and it is possible to improve on the performance.
I have had the Wadia in my system for a couple of weeks now. I have auditioned it with everything from classical to 60s rock to current rock, both live and studio recordings.
Everthing that Steve claims is absolutely true. The overall sonic improvement is immense. I immediately noticed a huge increase in the bottom end. Both the highs and mids were punched up as well.
The background is noticeably darker, as to be non-existent, the noise floor dropped off, and the soundstage became a lot wider. The overall sound became a lot warmer than any cd player that I have owned, including my past Wadias and a Levinson 390s that I had in my system for a while.
I am still in awe, and Steve says that it will get even better as it burns in.
I think that I have found a keeper. I can find no apparent weaknesses, and I now have the performance that I was looking for from my Levinson amps, and my Revel speakers.
Anyone who is interested should visit the Great Northern Sound Company website.
Steve is a very nice guy to deal with. He kept me informed as to the progress of the player, as well as checking up on me after I received the player, to make sure that I was happy with it.

Associated gear
Levinson 380 preamp, Levinson 33H monoblocks, Revel Ultima Studio speakers
mike1diver
schwinnindia's avatar
schwinnindia
49 posts
 
13.09.2005.

Review of the Wadia 861B - CD Player - Basic - SILVER

Serial Number :- 086 130 0343

Purchased on :- 10.01.2004

Purchased from :- Nova Audio - India - Sushil Anand

Price Paid :- US $'s 6,000/-

A] Music

M.A. Recordings - Begona Olavide / Mudejar MA042A
Water Lily Acoustics - Tabula Rasa WLA-CS-44-CD
ECM Records – Making Music / Zakir Hussain ECM – 1349
Moment Records – Ustad Sultan Khan MRCD – 1006
Reference Recordings – TUTTI ! RR-906CD
Telarc – A tribute to Oscar Peterson CD – 83401
Chesky Records – The Raven / Rebecca Pidgeon JD 115
Mercury – Essential / Yello 512 390 – 2

Mazher Bashir JAFFAR

13th September, 2005.

Mumbai - Bombay - INDIA

e-mail :- schwinn@mtnl.net.in

www.schwinnaudio.com

Strengths:
Build Quality
Looks - asthetically very pleasing
Transport - TEAC CMK 3.2 - VRDS

Weaknesses:
Not Transparent
Poor Dynamics
Poor IR Remote Control
Poor Display
Very 'Digital Sounding' - Edgy - COLD

Similar Products Used:
SIMAUDIO MOON ECLIPSE CD PLAYER - SerialNumber A-211294-CD
ELECTROCOMPANIET EMC-1 24/192 CD PLAYER - Serial Number 01334]
AUDIOMECA MEPHISTO II CD TRANSPORT - Serial Number 2001045
AUDIOMECA ENKIANTUS 24/192 DAC - Serial Number 2001073
METRONOME T1A MK II TRANSPORT + UP SAMPLER
METRONOME C1A MK III TUBE 24/192 DAC
THE GRYPHON ADAGIO CD PLAYER - Serial # 0401111
CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY MERLIN PRO CD TRANSPORT - Serial # 301209
CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY DRAGON 5.1 PLUS JITTER REDUCER - Serial # 103584
CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY UTHER D/A CONVERTOR v2 Mk5 - Serial # 501202

LIST OF AUDIO GEAR OWNED AND USED :-

SIMAUDIO MOON ECLIPSE CD PLAYER - SerialNumber A-211294-CD
SIMAUDIO P-5 PRE AMPLIFIER Serial Number A-081291-PRE
ELECTROCOMPANIET EMC-1 24/192 CD PLAYER Serial Number 01334
AUDIOMECA MEPHISTO II CD TRANSPORT Serial Number 2001045
AUDIOMECA ENKIANTUS 24/192 DAC Serial Number 2001073
METRONOME T1A MK II TRANSPORT + UP SAMPLER
METRONOME C1A MK III TUBE 24/192 DAC
WADIA 861-B CD PLAYER Serial # 086 130 0343
BRYSTON BP-25 PRE AMPLIFIER Serial Number 251744
BRYSTON 7B ST POWER AMPLIFIER Serial Number 773775 & 773793
PASS LABS X-1 PRE AMPLIFIER Serial Number 010388
DYNAUDIO CONFIDENCE 5 SPEAKERS Serial Number 729879 & 729990
VdH THE SECOND BALANCED INTERCONNECTS 1M
VdH THE FIRST ULTIMATE UNBALANCED INTERCONNECTS 1M
VdH THE REVELATION SPEAKER CABLE 3M
VdH THE MAINSTREAM HYBRID POWER CABLE 2M
XLO ELECTRIC TYPE 4.1B AES/EBU DIGITAL INTERCONNECT CABLE 1M
THE GRYPHON ADAGIO CD PLAYER Serial # 0401111
THE GRYPHON SONATA ALLEGRO PRE AMPLIFIER Serial # 8890099
THE GRYPHON ANTILION STEREO SIGNATURE POWER AMPLIFIER Serial # 118
CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY MERLIN PRO CD TRANSPORT [Serial # 301209
CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY DRAGON 5.1 PLUS JITTER REDUCER Serial # 103584
CAMELOT TECHNOLOGY UTHER D/A CONVERTOR v2 Mk5 Serial # 501202
THE GRYPHON GUIDELINE REFERENCE BALANCED INTERCONNECT 1M
THE GRYPHON PSC REFERENCE SPEAKER CABLE 2M
THE ARGENTO VDM MASTER REFERENCE XLR BALANCED INTERCONNECT 1M & 1.5M
THE ARGENTO VDM REFERENCE SPEAKER CABLE 3M
WIREWORLD SUPER ECLIPSE 5 XLR BALANCED & RCA UNBALANCED INTERCONNECT - 1M
JORMA DESIGN JPC 2.5 POWER CABLE - SWEDEN - 2M - ALL ELECTRONICS
DC-CABLE TAIWAN POWER CABLES - CUSTOM TERMINATION Front End Electronics - Digital
hotsauce
108 posts
 
I had GNSC mod my Wadia 20 a few years ago, and I have never regretted it.

As for the break in: You can leave a CD in it on repete 24/7 when you're not listening to it. Your DAC doesn't need to be on. You might also want to re-audition power cords once it finally settles in.

John C.
johnhaines
32 posts
 

I auditioned the Wadia 860, 860x , 861 and 860x GNSC Statement

 

The normal 860 had a warm sound equivalent to that of a decent LP and turntable with say a dynavector ruby cartridge. The 860x was a step up to say a Monstercable alpha 2 .

 

I did not like the digital dryer 861 at all. Ugggh

The 860x GNSC was more akin to a Koetsu Rosewood on a Goldmund Studio turntable in the way it handles voices and a super tall and wide soundstage . Easily one of the top 5 digital I have heard, and I have heard hundred of expensive units over $5000- $35000.

So I bought the Wadia 8t0x GNSC from Steve Huntley. I use it to stream qobuzz and tidal. The CD player needs a belt, George Myer TV (authorized Wadia service) has a lot of Wadia parts, but I haven’t missed handling the silly jewel boxes one bit.

If anyone wants to ask questions my tel number spells out “Disco-Draft” , I will likely sell it soon as I am selling everything and buying an airstream .

jafant's avatar
jafant
19,602 posts
 

johnhaines

 

How old is your 860x GNSC ? What year did you purchase from Steve Huntley?

Where are you located?  Feel free to PM (email)  here. I look forward in reading more about your Audio journey.

 

Happy Listening!

jafant's avatar
jafant
19,602 posts
 

johnhaines

 

I enjoyed conversation with you today. I look forward in our continued correspondence.  Contact me anytime. Thank you.

Happy Listening!

 

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