johnhaines
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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
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
15 responses Add your response
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 . |
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 |
I think you guys should ask Steve what he thinks of the Master series power cables from Virtual Dynamics.I keep trying to convince these dedicated Wadia owners to at least try them. I have a Revelation power cord that is totally off the wall with my dac 15i.I am getting dynamics and soundstaging that I didn't know was possible with 32x oversampling. My friend also owns the Revelation and a Wadia 2000s as well as a 27 ( all moded by Gnsc)and a Sim audio w5 LE. Both of us are awestruck at the level of detail and naturalness that the VD wire is able to convey as music. There are other tweaks that we have found but that may be for a future thread.Take care Dennis |
Bombaywalla: I bought a Wadia 861 basic about a year and a half ago, and, after a lot of thought, I decided to take the plunge and send it to Steve for the Reference upgrade. I just got it back a few days ago, so it's not even close to being burned in, but I already know that it was money well spent. I can't say enough good things about my experience with Steve and the improvements the upgrade has already made to an already fine CD player. |
I bought the Wadia 15i dac from Steve and then purchased the 8 transport on Audiogon.I then tried the Virtual Dynamics power cords and was blown away by the changes to the Wadias.I had kept up a good repetoire with Steve( very honest and forthright about equipment)and agreed to update both pieces.He treated both pieces for vibration and updated caps and power supplies including a new super clock on the tranport.Steve also stocks the finest glass optical cable called Aural Symphonics optism(the change in time and space with this cable has to be heard to believed).Well after 200hours the Wadias are huge in every way, the dynamics are staggering from top to bottom as well as the space of each recording.The inner detail is breathtaking as well as the resolution,when you can hear autos outside of the halls (Fairfield four,Merury-Pictures at an exhibition)something special is happening.If you own a stock Wadia you have't heard half of what it is capable of, these mods bring you to the forefront of musicality and resolution( Wadia's technology is yet to be matched in a complete package). The overall results allow me to focus on buying new music, and letting me forget about the latest and greatest technology coming down the pike.In my humble opinion these mods are worthy of serious consideration if you own Wadia gear and want to hear what it is truly capable of.Steve is a true craftsmen, knowing his trade in a very finite way, that allows the music to speak for him. |
I can second your reccommendation of Steve Huntley and GNS on yet another front: Steve was also employed by ARC for some years before moving over to Wadia. GNS also does extensive upgrading to many ARC components. I sent my ARC LS-2B pre-amp in to Steve for his "Standard" level upgrade (a "Reference" level is also available). I was delighted with the sound when it was returned but always wondered about my judgement being impaired by the lack of anything else to compare it to, the time that had passed since I last heard it, and the mind-games we all play when we've invested money into an improvement like that. Well, a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to A/B my modified LS-2B with a bone-stock LS-2B my friend uses in his system. We used a matched pair of Telefunken 6922's (actually these ones were made by Mullard). We were doing the comparison at my friends place and his system is all high-end Levinsion gear, great IC's, PC's and NHT 3.3's in a nice listening room. Guess what? No mind games here! Both of us immediately noted the improvements...it wasn't just subtle either. The most immediate differences were in clarity and focus (both improved with the GNS modified pre). Soundstage was marginally wider with the GNS mod. Overall it was $750 very well spent in both of our opinions. Steve was very straight foward to deal with (easier to reach on the phone than by email, though he did respond both ways). Turnaround was a bit slow, but they did warn me they were backed up at the time. Still, I don't think it was more than 3-weeks. Definitely reccommended! http://www.greatnorthernsound.com |