Hi Dave,

Hope that you had a good time at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest.

Thanks for sharing this review. As per my voice message, yes your Upgraded Denon 3910 is really fantastic. Never thought it would beat the Esoteric X-03 big time.

Congratulations!! for your work - something you should be proud of.

You can count me as your loyal customer for a very long time.

Best regards,

Dan Comeau

I just want to tell my experience with The Upgrade Company by David Schulte. I some how got wind of the Upgrade Company and sought David out to see what all of the talk was about, so we talked. David sounded so convincing, but a lot of guys do. Two years passed, in which time I owned the Reimyo 777 CDP, the
Esoteric P-03/D-03/G-0S triple combo, and the Wadia Reference Series Nine. Then I purchased the newest EMM LABS CDSA-SE 1-box CD/SACD player. Out of the box, there EMM Lab CDSA was, in my opinion, the best that I had heard to date in my system. Even with all of the CDSA's splendor, I was hungry for more, and wondered if there was any way to improve upon it, but I doubted it. I had heard from others that the single-box CDSA was every bit as good if not better then EMM's 2 box Signature Transport/Dac combo. Then I remembered David Schulte and the conversation that we had earlier. Reluctantly, I sent in my new CDSA. I got it back in about two weeks because David had to special order some parts. Out of the box, pre-burn-in, it sounded extremely good, but I did not expect what was to come as it opened up. I have been playing with digital since it was first introduced and have had some of the finest digital front ends that money can buy. But I never heard such a musical event that followed the EMM upgrade. All that the SACD master Ed Meitner can produce, and then some. I know nothing of engineering, but I know what I hear. This is the finest yet. David apparently knows his stuff. Don't hesitate as I did, tap the potential that's locked away in your EMM LABS as soon as possible. David will purchase a new unit for anyone who does not like the upgrade, so I see no reason not to go ahead with David's transformation of the CDSA. I cannot imagine anyone not being truly amazed by it's performance. I know of no equal.
Sincerely,
Ezra Hartsfield.
Audiogon ID "AudioEzra"

Paul Canady on his Denon 5910 Signature Upgrade:

Dear Upgrade Company and David Schulte,

I've now logged about 1300 hours on my Denon 5910 with your "Signature Edition" upgrades, and I thought I'd share my impressions with you. I'll refrain from commenting on all the attributes that audiophiles usually opine about . . . soundstage, imaging, high and low frequency extension, linearity, lowered noise level, etc., except to mention that your Signature upgraded 5910 has all that in spades and so much more.

However, I wanted to talk about a different observation that I have. The first 500 hours or so were, as you forewarned, a bit bumpy. More accurately, I would describe them as erratic. The sound quality would bounce back and forth from good to a little rough, sometimes exhibiting extremely harsh highs that made it nearly impossible to listen to. I was patient.

Somewhere between 500-600 hours, it settled down and started to progressively improve. It was at this point that I started some critical listening sessions. These were typical audio fanatic sessions where I was being critical of every detail of the presentation -- making a mental list of tweaks that might be needed to compensate for perceived weaknesses in the sound quality. However, I noticed that even those perceived weaknesses continued to dramatically decrease as the unit burned in more over the weeks.

Then, at about 850 hours, something strange happened. During a late evening critical listening session, I suddenly realized that I had listened to music for over three hours without even thinking about any of the issues that audiophiles typically obsess about. I realized that I was totally absorbed in the music, and not the way my system was sounding. This was a first.

I was flabbergasted. How did I enjoy this hobby for so long missing a true life-sized soundstage, the physical separation of the instruments, the timbre of the female vocals, etc. . . It then dawned on me that your upgraded Denon 5910 had taken all of the individual outstanding qualities that we hobbyists painstakingly try to pick apart and analyze during critical listening, and melded them all together into an integrated, coherent, mesmerizing musical whole.

Sure, I could still, with minimal effort, listen for the exquisite details, the pitch black background, hi/lo frequency extension, dynamics and all the other attributes us audiophiles prize. But this player has put all those pieces together into a musical presentation that has compelled me to just relax and LISTEN TO THE MUSIC like no other source I've ever heard. I've tried a number of the latest and supposed greatest stock and modified players upwards of $10-14,000 in my system. I would never have dreamt your Denon 5910 could surpass these players. If it were not for your money back guarantee, I would not have risked the plunge.

To say the least, I was pleased, impressed, and most importantly, musically satisfied. But to my pleasant surprise, it did not stop there. The sound continued to become even more compelling, more mesmerizing, literally magical. Now, with almost 1300 playing hours logged, I liken my listening experience to drinking a wonderfully complex cabernet, or indulging in a dessert of decadent dark chocolate. The music is lush, with full body and shimmer, while retaining the finest of details and ease. It is truly amazing.

I find myself playing music much louder then before because I can turn the volume up very high as the music remains super smooth and easy on the ears. Now all of my CD collection sounds just fantastic, even older Redbook CD's. When I close my eyes, it feels as if the room has no walls. The band is in the room on my system. You are submerged in a life-sized soundstage that seems endless. Vinyl has never created this illusion in my system. Also I find CD's are so much easier to deal with. Your 5910 Signature Edition put me on easy street. I never even dreamed recorded music could sound like this.

Thank you for bringing the band into my listening room!

Paul Canady in Nevada

Audiogon Member ID: Billhilleary on his Theta Compli, Theta Casablanca, Bel Canto REF 1000 monoblocks, EMM Labs Switchman 3 and Denon 5910Ci upgrades:
I have had several pieces done by David at the Upgrade Co, and everything he touches comes back fabulous. I have a Denon 5910 and a Theta Compli that he did for me. Both are great, and his service is 2nd to none.
Billhilleary

Audiogon Member: "Wizeazz" on his Denon 3910 and 2910 upgrades:

I can tell you that buying another piece of equipment is not the answer. If you are upgrading from a CD player to an all-in-one machine then that is a different story, but from one all in one player to another or from one cd player to another, there is such a small difference in performance to value ratio that The Upgrade Company is really the only logical decision. I have compared my Denon 2910 upgraded by The Upgrade Company to my friends Denon 2910 from Underwood Hi-Fi which had their Level 2 mods and a clock with it's dedicated power supply, and I can tell you that mine was still much smoother, backgrounds much blacker, more music period. I will be sending every piece of gear I own to Dave and in the end save a fortune because when he is done, nothing compares. Take the plunge, you won't regret it.
Mike Wise

Audiogon Member "Dadeyo44" on his Esoteric DV50S upgrade:
"Well done all around. It makes sense, what they do, when you think about it. Why try to redesign what some Multi million dollar company designed when you can simply upgrade their middle of the road parts! I can attest to the fact it is the best upgrade I have ever had performed for certain. Noticeably better than stock out of the box and the best bang for the buck I have experienced to date. Thanks for the best darn Esoteric DV-50s I have ever heard."

Dr. Fred Cohen on his Esoteric X-01 Signature Upgrade:

Thank you for the opportunity to audition the Upgrade Company/Schulte Signature upgraded Esoteric X-01 CD/SACD player. I am an authorized Linn dealer, so I am somewhat biased towards the wonderful " Linn sound ". I have an ethical and responsible position to deliver the best performance at various price points to my clients. I have also been considering offering another option for digital playback to my clients, since Linn has discontinued the CD-12.
After many weeks, and over 100 hours of serious auditioning, you have taken my experience in digital playback to the extreme sonic limits. I have done all my auditions with Linn Komri speakers which just went Aktiv, and I have them quad-amped, so the detail is brought out to the highest level.
We had over twenty high end audiophiles, and dealers to hear the event weekend last week.
We auditioned the DCS stack, the Esoteric P-03/D-03 separates, and the stock X-01 limited. We all were in high end sonic heaven as they all sounded great. We were quite surprised the your signature upgraded X-01 was by far, the best sounding piece in the all weekend event. Don't get me wrong. The other equipment was wonderful, however the signature X-01 that you did your magic to, took us to the most amazing sonic place. It was as live sounding, and some felt even better than live. The detail, transparency, overall depth of sound stage, and the emotion created by the sonic details and layers created were jaw dropping.
At the end we went back to the stock X-01 limited. It sounded like a plain vanilla cd player compared to the Signature Upgraded X-01.
Dave, thank you for sharing the opportunity to reveal what is truly possible in the high end world, and what the manufactures should be doing in the R & D departments.
Sincerely,
Dr. Fred Cohen
PS, any questions can be addressed by having them call me. Feel free to give them my contact info.

May 11, 2007

The Upgrade Company

Dear Dave:

I recently got back my Consonance CD-120 which I sent to you for modification. I mainly heard about your company from other very satisfied customers on Audiogon. I must say at first I was skeptical as to what improvement you could make to this CD player.

Well… from top to bottom this player far exceeded my expectations as to how great this player can sound. There is much more detail in the midrange and treble. The bass is tighter and more controlled. I am experiencing even a darker background, thus better air between the instruments. For the money I spent with you it was well worth my investment. I have owned the more expensive Consonance players like the Droplet, Ref 2.2, and Classe CDP 10. I even owned the $5000 North Star DAC and Transport combo which in my opinion doesn’t sound nearly as good as my now modified CD-120.

I hope others will give you the opportunity like I did to improve there current equipment without spending tons of money to do so. Keep up the great work!

Regards,

Doug Brink

Audiogon Member Rick - from California - on his Esoteric DV50S upgrade:

I purchased my Esoteric DV-50 for convenience. I was looking for a player that would play any disc I could throw at it without a second thought, and of course, I wanted it to have good build quality and decent sonics. So, it was a great match for my needs. After a couple of years I wanted more in terms of sound yet still keeping the convenience amenities. It made sense to keep the unit and modify it with enhanced parts, etc. Problem was, with all the war stories out there regarding Mod Specialists who could I trust? I did my research and decided to go with David Schulte of the Upgrade Company. David put me at ease impressing me with his integrity and enthusiasm. After about a week with the unit Dave called me and said the upgrade was done and the unit was ready to ship. I couldn’t wait to hear the difference….

From the moment I plugged it in it was noticeably better. I had always felt the player exhibited congestion; imaging was smeared causing a lack of individuation. After the mod this condition was totally eliminated, no smearing, image delineation was first rate. Also, the soundstage was bigger with considerably more depth while the entire presentation emerged from a blacker background. The other thing I noticed was substantially more bass, in fact both ends of the frequency spectrum were more extended. Dave told me that complete break-in would take about 300 hours and everything would continue to improve, and it did.

In the world, as in audio, it’s all about return on investment. I can say without reservation that the return was well worth the investment, and I can say without qualification that David Schulte of the Upgrade Company can help you achieve your little piece of audio nirvana.
Give him a call….
Rick from California

I spent an afternoon with David a while back, and we did many side by side comparisons at his business. We compared a Denon DVD-9000 that he had upgraded, against other customer machines that were in for upgrading. The units we compared were a stock Esoteric X-01, a stock Linn CD-12, an Aloia that had been "modified" by someone else.

The Denon 9000 was by far the best of the group. Quite an achievement for an "older" player that only sells for around a grand used. I was amazed to be honest. The sound had an intimacy and smoothness that I had not heard before. The biggest difference was the bass extension and slam. The other units sounded thin. I am not trying to flame the owners of these units, I am just saying what I heard in our session.

David is an incredibly honest person, and I completely trust him with my gear. I know this sounds like one of those " too good to be true" scenarios by some internet shuckster, but I learned a great deal, it was a great afternoon of A-Bing equipment and cables.

The Upgrade Company's work is incredible and sounds truly amazing, and well worth the investment. It is what David says it is.

Richard in Ohio

Hi Dave,

Finally I have had time to write this email. Sorry for the delay.

The upgraded Theta Carmen DVD/CD transport sounds wonderful. The imaging and sound definition is superb! It is far better than the later model Classe transport I had been using while the Theta was upgraded. Outstanding work!

I have also left feedback on Audiogon. Thanks again,

Paul Marquardt

Audiogon Member: "I_audio" on Forte, Reimyo, Denon, Sony ES upgrades

I thought I should share my experience with some interesting audio equipment and their upgrades by David Schulte of The Upgrade Company. The equipment included: the Denon S1 Integrated Amplifier, Forte 4a amp, Reimyo DAP 777 DAC, and the Sony CVP-CX 777 ES SACD/CD 400 disks Mega changer. I have had the Denon S1 & the Reimyo for years and upgraded them about two months ago. I had the Forte and the Sony for about three months. I listen mostly to Jazz and Classical music, sometimes new age and rock.

It started when I ran into an ad by "The Upgrade Company" selling the Forte 4a amplifier. I heard this amp at audio dealers in the early 1990’s when it was available. This amp impressed me on several occasions driving Martin Logan and other speakers that I still remember it to this day. I was going to buy it back then when raving reviews in The Absolute Sound described the Brown Electronic Lab amplifier as possibly the best amplifier in the world. I followed the review instead of my ears and bought the BEL 1001 without auditioning it. The BEL was a good amp but turned out to be much less musical than the Forte.

The Forte was discontinued. I later traded the BEL for Joule Electra tube OTL and became for the most part a "Tube Guy". Joule Electra amp and preamplifiers are among the very best sounding I have heard at audio dealers, shows, and anywhere. Their reliability proved incredible. I still have the Joule Electra equipment in my main system, but like many of us, I sometimes get the bug to try something else.

Only a few of the best models of equipment survive the test of time. I realized I still wanted this Forte amp, so this time I trusted my instincts. I bought it used and upgraded from David Schulte of The Upgrade Company. I was amazed at the sound of the upgraded Forte 4a and understood why it has developed such a cult following. It is very musical, sounds effortless and natural. Despite its 50 Watts class A 8 ohm rating, it sounds big, effortless, clear and musical. It has a wonderful midrange and treble that is very competitive with the very best amps made today. It has very good bass, however, being only 50watts, it is not enough power on some bass passages.

The Forte was so good by today’s standards, I decided to try to get Dave to upgrade some of my other equipment.

I sent him a Sony CVP-CX 777 ES SACD/CD Mega changer that I bought to use for a second system and as a transport. I did not really care for its sound as a CD player but felt its SACD sound had good potential. Dave’s upgrade was less than he would have liked due to limited space inside the Sony to place the parts he wanted. Still the improvement was very obvious that I now enjoy listening to it especially on SACD. Not very far behind my $6,000 APL 3910 in fact. In some ways it is better, others lacking. But once the Reimyo 777 DAC was upgraded and run off the Sony 777ES as a transport, that was a whole other league entirely. I have since sold my APL 3910.

Then I had Dave upgrade the rare and beautiful $5500 Denon S1 integrated amplifier. Actually I was about to sell the Denon, but the improvements as a result of the upgrades were so amazing that I am keeping it. The Denon S1 series from the early 1990’s, and were Denon’s statement, cost-is-no-object products. The $40k Denon S1 Monoblocks, the S1 Transport and S1 DAC were reviewed in Stereophile and firmly placed in “Class A Recommended Components”. I do not think I ever saw a Denon ad in Stereophile . The preamp listed out at $17,000. The Denon S1 Series look like pieces of art and were perfectly built.

So, how to describe the effect of the upgrade? With all the upgraded equipment, lots of air, more depth, more 3-D, more dynamics, really good bass, much smoother and much more musical sound overall. The sound is bigger and clearer, more powerful.

In case of the Sony, in addition to the above the grain and digital hardness were gone.

In case of the Denon S1 it became very smooth, liquid, and crystal clear without any solid state hardness or grain. The highs are extended and silky smooth. The midrange is liquid and sweet. Well how good is the Denon now? It is better that the current Stereophile Class A Unison Unico SE, with the Underwood Hi Fi level 2 upgrade. The Denon is Crystal clear, liquid, and fast. I think the Denon is the most improved component because it had room for Dave to use the parts he wanted.

Dealing with Dave is a pleasant experience. Easy to reach by phone, very fast turnaround time, and is open to uneducated suggestions. I found he can upgrade just about anything audio or even video. Expensive equipments like the Reimyo DAC can be improved with Dave’s upgrade not just the entry level stuff like the Sony SACD/CD 400 discs Mega changer.

The improvement is so dramatic that I am going to have Dave upgrade all the components in my system. Happy listening!

AL

Associated gear
Reimyo DAP 777 DAC, APL Denon 3910, Sony CVP-CX 777 ES SACD/CD player, VPI TNT/Graham 2.2 ceramic arm/Koetsu Uruchi, Joule Electra LA 100 full function preamp, Joule Electra Grand Marquis OTL amps, Cary SLP 50a, Cary 2A3 Parallel single ended amps, Forte 4a, Reimer Teton Speakers, Omega Super Hemp single driver no crossover speakers, Era Model 5 speakers, Analysis Plus 8,9,& Gold, JPS Superconductor2, Alpha core Goertz Ag2 silver, Shunyata Hydra 8& power cords, Exact Power voltage stabilizer, Cinepro Balanced power, Harmonix 78, Harmonix Power cords, ASC room treatment

Similar products
Unison Research Unico SE integrated
Valve Audio Predator integrated
I_audio

8-08-06

You'd be a little nuts to expect two "top-of-the-line" components like the ARC Ref 2 Mk 2 pre amp and the Reimyo CDP-777 could be improved. But that's exactly what David Schulte's, Upgrade Company achieved with a little bit of technical magic. For considerably less than buying new, David truly "upgraded" almost $24,000 (when new) units. The enhancements include expansion of the musical space, dead-quiet, far more detail in the most complex musical passages and, that foolproof marker something's a lot better: "old" CD's suddenly seem new and exciting. I'd recommend Upgrade Company without hesitation! Jon F.

Hello David.
I apologize for not writing you an email before now praising the far improved sonic virtues of my upgraded Pioneer SA-9800. I have found it difficult to pull myself away from listening to this amp to describe the improvements. I would have never thought that such wonderful, pristine sound could be produced by this 20+ year old amp. Your upgrades are truly world class. The sonic benefits are not at all subtle but immediately discernable. It was a pleasure doing business with you and I look forward to having all of my other Pioneer components upgraded too.
Thanks,
Jim Wilbur

DENON DVD-3910 Upgrade

Initial Impressions:

I was looking for a way to improve the sound of my home theater system and determined that my 8 year old DVD/CD player was the weak link. I didn't have a large budget so I decided to buy a used DVD/CD Player that performed decently and have it upgraded. There were many companies that were willing to upgrade my Denon 3910, but most of the prices out there were astronomical. I finally heard about David Schulte and decided to give him a call. I spoke with David about his experience with the Denon 3910 and some of the improvements he would make. I have to admit I was a little skeptical, but decided to give the Upgrade Company a try.

Easy to Work With:

When I shipped the Denon to David’s shop he immediately sent me an email letting me know that the unit arrived safely and most notably that he had already started working on installing the upgraded components and parts. I was really impressed about this sense of urgency since my past experiences with upgrading equipment usually resulted in weeks and sometimes months of waiting.

Quick Turnaround:

Within a week from when I sent David my Denon 3910 he had it back at my house. I had never experienced such a quick turn-around. With David, there is no long waiting.

Customer Satisfaction and Follow-Up:

Once I got the Denon back I started the break-in period. The initial sound improvements were subtle, but improvements in the video were noticeable right away. The picture on my rear projection TV was much clearer than before. The Images were very clear especially for a 10 year old rear projection TV. On the audio side of things I could tell that the Blackgate Caps and other new parts David installed in the audio circuit needed time to break-in. During the entire break-in period (300-500 hours of playing time) David was very conscientious about emailing me and sometimes calling me to make sure that I understood what was happening during the break in period and that I was satisfied with the performance of the player. When David sensed that I was not completely satisfied with the improvements (before the break-in was finished) David requested that I send the unit back (he even took the price of shipping off the cost of the upgrade) and assured me that the improvements we had initially talked about would be realized. David just wanted to make sure that everything was working properly. While the Denon 3910 was in David’s shop he traced the problem down to some faulty capacitors. Again, within the week, the Denon was back at my house playing in my system, but this time the sound was noticeably improved. Now the sound of my system began to generate sonic qualities that I could only imagine before now. The notes coming out of my speakers were extremely clear and natural sounding. Notes that just seemed to hang in the air for the longest time beyond what I had ever experienced previously. There was no hint of brightness or harshness whatsoever. Just pure natural sounding notes from one end of the frequency spectrum to the other. The highs were clear and natural and the lows were powerful and taut. Another impressive quality was that prior to David’s modification, whenever I turned up the volume of my system to loud levels the sound would become fatiguing. Now that was not happening at all. At times I became concerned that I might actually damage the speaker drivers if I played my system any louder and even at those volume levels my system sounded very pure and natural.

Now that the Denon 3910 has had a chance to fully break-in, I am repeatedly impressed whenever I settle into my listening chair no matter which CD or DVD I am playing. Each note is impressively clear and natural. No longer did my system sound harsh, bright, muffled or fatiguing. All of those problems are now gone.

Having now gone through this upgrade experience with David Schulte of the Upgrade Company, I look back and realize how easy David made this experience for me. If you are interested in having any kind of upgrade modification to your existing audio or video equipment and want great customer service, high quality parts, and workmanship, I wholeheartedly recommend that you give the Upgrade Company a call!

Tom in Nebraska

Hi David,

It has been my great pleasure to have discovered
the Upgrade Company. I purchased a Theta pro 2 dac
which David worked his magic on. This is a Dac over 10
years old and it has out performed my stock Cary
306-200. It has given the soul back to my music and I
believe this is because David is a man doing what he
loves. I can hear his loving touch in the heart of
this dac. I am running my old stock Marantz CD63Se as
a transport. I never would have believed this player
could sound this good. I once hooked it up to a
musical fidelity dac years ago and was never happy
with the sound. I am sure David could have helped that
dac as well but I sold it long before before my
discovery of the Upgrade Company.

I am a long time audiophile and have heard a lot
of different equipment over the years..I now realize
if you want to hear music filled with beauty you have
to put your equipment in the hands of a professional
pursuing this beauty. David does this with every piece
of equipment he touches. Davids love for what he does
shines through. He doesn't just upgrade parts he
voices each piece of equipment so it can live up to
its true musical potential.

If you have been leery of modders like I was you
owe it to yourself to send just one piece of equipment
in for an upgrade. It will enlighten you to the
potential your equipment has for true beauty and allow
you to hear the soul of your music once again.

For your pursuit of this inner musical truth I
thank you David.

Andrew in Forida

dave, i can not tell you enough the sonic transformation of my entire system since you upgraded all my equipment in my system. expensive stock gear does not come close to the level of improvement that your upgrades do. this all started with a dvd player upgrade and finished with the upgrade of my speaker crossovers. your speaker wire and interconnect cables certainly finished off the final piece of the puzzle. its good to hear that even reviewers of equipment and the owners have heard about your work,and from what i understand are experiencing the same improvements. i highly recommend your upgrades to anyone that is thinking of improving the sound of their system.

BILL L

Dear David, you recently upgraded my Melos dac/transport and after a week of listening I wanted to get back with you about my expereince. Granted, I do not profess to have "golden ears", but I am blown away. First and formost is the naturalness and emotional involvement of the music. I listen primarily to jazz and blues and not only I am hearing more of the music, but the inner detail and huge sound stage is amazing. And what I did hear before, I am hearing as if for the first time. There is an effortlessness about the music, and there is more "there", to use an overused notion. This results in significant reduction in listener fatigue. I am totally drawn into the music. The musicians and instruments have so much space and air around them which allows low level detail to be heard as never before. Gone is a brightness and digital glare that on some recordings was to the point of being irritating. Bad recordings now sound so much better, while good recordings are amazing! When I was inquiring about your serice I mentioned that I had auditioned several highly praised players in the $2500-5000 range, and all I can say is my "old Melos" absolutely blows them away. My wife who has some musical training, was stunned from the first note. She not only echo's my listening experience, but added that the rhythm and pace is spot on and the speakers disappear like never before. You said I would not be disappointed and you could not have been more right. Thank you and I hope to do future business with you. FYI- System is Spectral DMA-150 Series II amp/Spectral DMC-12 pre/with phono, VPI Aries/JMW arm/BenzMicro Woodbody M2, Melos dac/transport, Thiel 3.6's with MIT/Spectral interconnects/speaker cable and Cardas digital cable, Synergistic Research power cables amp/dac/transport, MIT/Spectral Z Cord II power cable on preamp.

Robert Hack
Muncie, IN

Mark Levinson 326S preamp upgrade- "Sound is rounder and stage is better. The overall presentation is perhaps 40% better. Good job."
Thank you, Jeff Belkin

   My experience with The Upgrade Company started as a curious response to an Audiogon ad touting markedly increased performance for Mark Levinson components.  I had just purchased a No. 380S and was wary of letting someone mess with the guts of my baby.  To make a long story short, David Schulte should be awarded an honorary psychology degree for having to deal with antsy audiophiles like me.  The desire for better sound got the best of me and I had David upgrade my preamp.  My 380S sounded better after the full break in period, but not what David considered a significant improvement from my descriptions.  He had me send the preamp back and did some more work on a circuit board that may have been overlooked.  David Schulte does not accept mediocre results.  That core value of The Upgrade Company really impressed me.  When I got the preamp back this time, it sounded much better and just kept getting sweeter as it continued to break in for the recommended 350 hours.  Resolution improved markedly over the stock No. 380S.  David’s claim that it now sounds as good or better than the No. 32 is not an exaggeration.

            After hearing my preamp sound so impressive, David recommended sending my Ayre CX-7 Evolution CD player for an upgrade to get a tremendous improvement at the source level.  I was initially reluctant to send my fairly new CD player in for modifications, especially after I had just done the factory Evolution upgrade.  David sent me a very modest JVC DVD player that he had upgraded to test against my Ayre player.  To my amazement, the little JVC’s sound was every bit as good as my $3,000 player!  I was sold and had David do his magic on my Ayre CD player.  My CD player now sounds better than machines costing many thousands of dollars more.  It's tough to describe all the sonic improvements, but one of David’s favorite phrases is, “there’s more of everything.”  Greater resolution is the most noticeable improvement.  It's almost as if more background singers got invited to perform on my favorite CDs.  I’m hearing voices revealed that simply weren't there before.  Guitars sound rich and soulful.  Drums and cymbals have gained a wonderful presence and realism. Reverb effects go a mile deep now.  My entire collection of contemporary jazz, rock, and popular music is more fun to listen to, and isn’t that what it’s all about?

I’m constantly amazed at how much information is on the CDs we buy, but we miss hearing because bits and pieces of the music get lost somewhere along the signal path.  The Upgrade Company does amazing things to let more of that information through to delight the ears and the mind.  David’s upgrades gave me the most bang for the buck of any equipment upgrade I’ve ever done.  Count me in as another audiophile who has lost his fear of The Upgrade Company.  When I can get some extra dollars scraped up, I’ll have David upgrade my amplifier.  In my humble opinion, any equipment at any level will definitely be transformed by the Upgrade Company.  I’m overjoyed that I took the leap of faith.  Thanks David!



Associated equipment:  Mark Levinson No. 333.5 amplifier, Wilson Sophia speakers, Transparent Reference with MM technology interconnects and speaker cables.

Warren Hingst
Audiogon member ID  Navsound

Review of Modifications of a Levinson 390s
By the Upgrade Company and David Schulte
By Stephen Hapke


Let me first say that I am not affiliated with the Upgrade Company in any way nor do I personally know or have worked with David Schulte before engaging the services of his company to modify a recently acquired Levinson model 390s cd player/processor to try to enhance its performance. I first got interested in audio in the 70s when I went away to college and entered the realm of high end audio with the purchase of a pair of Levinson ML2s in 1980. Since that time I have steadily and somewhat frequently changed my audio system and have evaluated various manufactures products via home demo. Besides Levinson I am familiar with Krell, Pass, Boulder, Audio Research, Lamm, Conrad Johnson, Classe, Ayre, Hovland, VTL, Jadis, YBA, Jeff Rowland, and Cello power and preamps along with those and other brands in analog or digital source equipment I am also a pianist who study for 12 years as an adult with one of the major symphony orchestra’s pianists.

My 390s was shipped to the Upgrade Company on a Saturday with Monday delivery so David would have the week to work on it. He received the unit Monday and needing the remote, that was shipped and work was started Tuesday after he listened briefly to the unit. He took Tuesday and Wednesday while in discussion with me to remove and replace a variety of cheap components on the circuit boards in my 390s. He had wanted to add in some Bybee filters for the output and responded to my suggestion that they might be added to the inputs also since I would regularly be using the piece in that way, upon checking the spatial constraints in the unit he decided that it would be infeasible to add the filters since the boards themselves would have to be drilled to mount them as the decoder box interfered with and was mounted very close to the main output board. He had thoughts of more modifications to the output board but the lack of a shop manual prevented us from accomplishing that mod with this initial work. The unit was returned to me Wednesday before closing and I had the unit Thursday afternoon to start “breaking in” the new electronic components that had been replaced. He noted that 12 hours for each stage, line in and cd, would be best before listening critically and that improvements would still be gained through 100 hours of breakin since there were many new components that had been installed on the circuit boards.

That night when we sat down to dinner and a movie it was obvious that something very special had happened to the unit. The character of the Levinson 390s remained but everything else about the sonic presentation had been dramatically changed through the modifications. I had just recently used a Levinson 31.5 Transport with a Levinson 30.5 DAC and this was an immediate improvement on that without even being broken in properly yet. On something as plain as a dvd of Bourne Supremacy, it was easy to tell that the unit had been drastically improved; soundstage, details, a sense of ambience, the layers of the studio’s sound mixing were many times clearer and cleaner then what they had been, all the clues that we use hoping to suspend disbelief were now right there for the taking. Voices were much more natural and real seeming, with a timber and presence that left you believing that the person was right over there talking to you, bowed strings in the soundtrack of the film no longer sounded like bowed strings they sounded like 6, 8, or 12 string player with their individual instruments and bows playing in unison arranged in a particular seating pattern coming from a layer of sound behind the vocals and other sound effects in the film. The next day before going out for business I threw a cd in the player and hit repeat disc to ensure that the unit would get some breakin before starting to listen to some favorite recordings that evening.

That evening as I spun, several recordings of Rite of Spring, Pictures at an Exhibition, Romeo and Juliet Ballet, 3 or 4 Piano Concertos, a little jazz and a couple of vocal cds I was amazed and overjoyed at the difference in the 390s and its capability to play music. What we’re talking here is not the normal level of change as an audio enthusiast purchases that better piece of equipment and goes running home with it to play and experience its level of presentation with some of his favorite music, we are talking a whole different realm of presentation. I have changed many pieces of equipment over the years swapping this amplifier or this disc player or this preamp for some predecessor and have always found happiness that some component of the music sounded a little more real or a little more believable. That this part of the frequency spectrum was now clearer than it had been. One of my favorite changes was the substitution of a Levinson Model 32 for a former unit which brought with it many more details and clarity to all the sources that were used to play music and seemed to cover the whole frequency spectrum. Compared to the equipment changes I have experienced they all pale in comparison to what was accomplished by having The Upgrade Company modify my 390s. This unit now displays a wonderful soundstage both wide and deep with individual instruments specifically placed in that soundstage, it is just much closer to the musical event then it was before. The first few recordings left me feeling like the music now seemed so natural maybe something had been lost in the attack, the aliveness that we want to hear might be subdued, all those poor recordings might now sound a little too glossed over, but as I worked my way through more discs I found that was not the case. While the music is more natural and we are much closer to it in every way, these modifications to not color the sound or unbalance it to a degree that you start to lose the differences between a well recorded and engineered cd and a bad one; the bad ones do still sound as they should, overmiked, poorly mixed, too highlighted, too shrill, or too muddy but even bad cds now possess a musicality that they did not have before There is an enormous amount of information being conveyed about each player on the stage of an orchestra recording, their location, their proximity to other musicians, and their relationship to other musicians in their ensemble. The dynamics of the unit are spectacular without being harsh and in no way do the improved details and dynamics over power the music presenting itself in a natural way, they enhance that ability so that it is much easier to believe that the event is unfolding before your very ears right across the room from you. It becomes difficult to put into words a change that doesn’t seem to have a personality but just does more things right then anything before it, but that is what we are dealing with. The discs now played through the 390s while being able to show their own merits or flaws are still much closer to the music then before the modifications and to a degree that is above the type of change we are used to in swapping the pieces of equipment we can typically afford to move between. This is not I got a better preamp, or a found a great power cable, or you can’t believe how good these interconnects are; this is the music and its characteristics and details are now right there in front of you and only David the magician may know exactly why but they are now there instead of being missing in action. The only way I can’t recommend this modification to someone is if they object to hearing all that is there in the recordings they own and possibly in their equipment, say if they don’t want to listen to all the layers of sound in a movie sound mix because of its constructed nature in the first place; otherwise this is a boon to anyone who wants to hear more naturalness in their discs of musicians of any kind, be it classical, jazz, band vocal or I would even suspect rock although I haven’t tried any popular music yet besides vocalists.

Associated equipment: Levinson 33h amplifiers, von Schweikert VR6s with matched drivers and modified by Albert von Schweikert, Straightwire reference grade interconnects, Custom made speaker cables.

Audiogon Member Martin M. had this to say about his Esoteric DV50 upgrade experience:

"I already had one helluva player that to me was heads above the rest. I've always been looking for a CD player even when I’ve had 2 -3 players in house costing anywhere from $1500 - $4500. Always looking. The Esoteric DV-50 was the first time I found a unit that could do a formidable job at more than just CD playback. It was the perfect solution - I could get rid of all the different players, free up all the real estate they were taking up, liquidate expensive PCs & ICs and generate some cash in the process. The
stock Esoteric was exceptionally good at everything it could spin and I was very happy with the unit. But one thing audiophiles cannot do is leave well enough alone.

Enter: The Upgrade Company
After doing research and then more research, I called David at the Upgrade Company to hear what he had to say. Always skeptical, I had my questions and concerns regarding my player laid out. Money wasn’t the issue, doing harm to what I already thought was a tremendous player was the issue.

After talking to him on several occasions and contacting another customer of his, I decided to go ahead with the upgrade. I dropped off the unit one afternoon and did some critical listening at his
place of business, then again when I picked it up. There was an
improvement, a little more than subtle but a change for the better. When I arrived home, I briefly listened to it again in my rig and noticed a discernable difference. I then allowed it to burn in for several weeks using my Ayre IBE CD (track 4) to get past the 300-hour break-in.
My take:
The whole musical experience was changed. Slight in some respects more overt in others, but nonetheless most welcome. Without going into all the rhetoric, I'll give you what I heard and felt. Yes, I did say "Felt" because I don't listen to music passively.

Resolution sums up the biggest improvement. I was no longer listening to musical notes being played I was hearing the instruments that played them. Never before have I heard such a thing to this degree. It was like literally watching the instrument being played in front of me. The image that the music portrayed was that vivid. Bass was wonderful. Better than I
remembered and once again the accuracy in timbre was arresting to say the least. Accurate “and” euphoric!!

In laymen's terms it was like taking the horse blankets off my Maggies.

The long and short of it:
Resolution, bass impact, dynamics, more refinement = a more involve
listening experience.

My experience with The Upgrade Company was truly an investment in everything I know, love, and feel about music. My Esoteric could already play the hell out of; CD's, DVD's, SACD's or anything it could spin… but now it has a soul. David is a great guy and now I can call him a friend who offers a truly unique service for people who love music. Invest in your music."

Audiogon Member: Cujo on his Wadia 861se upgrade:
"Incredible work performed by Dave of the Upgrade Company fame. Davids mod work is to be tried by all audiophiles...best kept secret,but not for long...don't hesistate to try his services....I had my Wadia done. AAAA++++"

I am a repeat customer of David's, having had first my Marantz DV 8300 done, followed by my Aragon 3002 amp, then my Musical Fidelity A3/24 DAC, after which I purchased a Genesis Digital Time Lens that David had previously upgraded. My system was sounding fine, thank you very much, when David suggested I should send the DAC and Time Lens back to him, he said he has found new things to do to make them better. What an understatement that turned out to be! I received the two units about two weeks ago, and my newly acquired analogue front end has not had a single moment of duty since. Red Book cd now sounds superior to SACD. When I play a cd, I am now listening to the music, not my system. Experienced audiophiles will know what I mean by this..sheer enjoyment of music, not nitpicking your system and wondering what can I do now to make it better. What this improvement has done is to point up the value of the work Dave has done on my Aragon amp, and Marantz universal player. It has also shown me how good my speakers are, (Dynaudio Contour 5.4's), and the rest of the system. I just read review of the Esoteric DV 50s that David upgraded for a Stereophile reviewer. Everything that was said about the Esoteric can also be said about my digital front end, and need I tell you about the price differential between the two? In short, I cannot recommend David's services highly enough. The two items just re-done at his recommendation, he did for a very nominal fee. Knowledge is not a static thing, and he is constantly learning new ways to do things better, and he wants to share that dividend with his customers. The man cares. I am just an ordinary blue-collar man, not a fat cat with big pockets, so to have the performance I have at far less than the price of a new home is significant to me. I would be willing to speak with potential customers, just ask Dave for my number. By the way,I am not affiliated with The Upgrade Company, in fact I have never met David, in case you were wondering.
Enjoy,
Dan Thomason