Theta Testimonials

Unsolicited Customer Testimonials - Every client has paid The Upgrade Company LLC in full.   No kickbacks, no commissions, no fees of any kind for recommending our products and services.

August 2007

Theta DSP Pro Basic 3 Digital-to-Analog Convertor Upgrade

It has been my great pleasure to have discovered The Upgrade Company. I purchased a Theta DSP Pro Basic 3 dac which David had worked his magic on. This is a well regarded dac that is over 10 years old and it has out performed my stock Cary 306-200 CD/SACD player by a mile.

It has given the soul back to my music. I'm running my stock Marantz DVD player as a transport. and selling the 306-200. I never would have believed this player could sound this good. I had hooked up a stock Musical Fidelity dac and a few others and was never happy with the sound. I am sure David could have helped that dac as well but I sold it before my discovery of The Upgrade Company.

I'm 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 modifier pursuing this beauty.

David 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 to The Upgrade Company. 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.

Blessings,
Andrew Carey, Florida

January 2009

I had purchased my Theta DaVid/CasaNova combo about 10 years ago because Theta promised an upgrade path for their customers components.  I always enjoyed the bold "live" sound that their components offered and the upgrade path was a big selling point.  When my Theta DaVid DVD player acted up and needed repair, Theta took care of it.  Twice.  Since Theta and ATI got together it seems Theta has lost focus on their core customers.  I tried to get my player fixed recently and it became clear that Theta is no longer going to provide any support for what were their "upgradable" components.  I started looking  at different brands. I did not hear any new and affordable equipment that excited my ears and decided to look for used equipment that I was familiar with to get the most bang for my buck.  I stumbled onto The Upgrade Company and did some more research on the internet.  I finally gave Dave Schulte a call and by the time we were done I decided to ship the CasaNova to him for upgrade.   That turned out to be the best move I ever made since I started fooling around with high end audio gear.  I wasn't in a big hurry but still got my Theta's back in less than 2 weeks. I plugged them in for a couple days with a CD on repeat in the DaVid transport to let it burn in.  Dave said to let it burn in for quite a while, but after 2 days I gave my system a casual listen and the first thing I heard was that it sounded "thicker" with a very black background.   When I sat down again a couple of weeks later after a trip I got a better sense of what was going on.  The backgrounds were indeed dead silent and the singers and instruments were much more fleshed out, more sharply delineated in space, and still with that bold, live clear Theta sound.  The sound stage was deeper but the width grew quite a bit beyond the speakers and on some tracks on a couple of CD's seemed to wrap around my head.  I couldn't have been happier.  My system blew away much more expensive gear I've heard.

I then talked with Dave about about interconnects and power cords, thinking I needed a new digital interconnect to kick things up another notch.  He suggested I try the new TimePortal Silver Reference coaxial digital interconnect and TimePortal Silver Reference Power Cords.  If I didn't like them I could send them back.  Well, I bought them.  The biggest surprise was when I placed the TimePortal power cord on my CasaNova post-upgrade.  Dave promised the power cords would allow the upgrades to reach potential and did they ever.  Before, with my previous power cords, the sound was muffled, but not that I would have ever thought that until I put the TimePortal power cord in.  I had no idea how much improvement a really good power cord could make.   Compared to other cords I tried, the TimePortal's really fleshed out and opened up the sound to a great degree I would not have thought possible.  Amazing. I still can't figure out what's up with that, but the improvements were immediately evident.

If you want to get off the high-end merry go round and stop the insanity of buying stock gear for minor I mean tiny improvements, give Dave a call at The Upgrade Company.  I'm convinced you won't get better sound for your money anywhere else.

Steve F.
San Diego, CA

My System:

• Theta DaVid-Transport- Upgrade Company SE upgraded                              
• Theta CasaNova-Preamp/Processor-Upgrade Company SE upgraded
• Innersound-600W/ch  2 channel amplifier
• Innersound-200W/ch  4 channel amplifier
• Acoustic Zen Adagio-loudspeakers
• Sonance In Walls-rear surround speakers
• Custom built subwoofer with two 12"JBL Pro drivers
• TimePortal Silver Reference interconnects
• TimePortal Silver Reference power cords
• Kimber Kable 4TC-in wall, under floor speaker cable
• PS Audio P300 Power Plant-power conditioner

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  Theta Compli, and Theta Casablanca lll that he upgraded for me.  Everything turned out great, and his service is 2nd to none.

Audiogon ID: Billhilleary

Bill Hilleary, WA

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

"Update on Theta Mod"

Several weeks ago I placed a post for help on deciding if my Theta Gen Va had seen its best days. Many of you responded by advising me to sell and buy an updated DAC or player. Some suggested having the DAC upgraded. After some hard thought and a call to David Schulte of the Upgrade Co., I decided to send the DAC and my A/R transport and Genesis Digital lens to be upgraded. I did so with some apprehension but somehow I felt this would work out well. I received the 3 units back the other day and although a burn in period of 100 hours was recommended, I couldn't not resist listening to the trio with about 48 hours on them. This is my initial impression, WOW, I got back more than I could have ever hoped for. The entire presentation of my digital playback is State of the Art, everything is improved from the lowest bass to the treble. Soundstage, depth, transparency, clarity etc. Instruments were placed in space and emitted from a silent background, voices were smooth and clear, no digital harshness anywhere. I could go on with the adjectives but there isn't enough time to do so in this post. The proof is in a direct comparison with my friends Audio Aero Capital CD player. He brought it over to do a AB comparison. Now the Audio Aero is a highly regarded player and sounded terrific but when I played my combo, my friends jaw dropped. My Upgraded combo had outplayed his $8,000 player and by a wide margin.

Thanks David on a great upgrade job!

John