Cal Audio Alpha 24/96

$700 upgrade ??? It is $450 for the upgrade as far as i know. At least it was the last time that i checked. Sean
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I upgraded my Alpha about 1 yr ago. In retrospect, I would say to sell the Alpha and whatever transport your using (I have the Delta) and upgrade to a better one box player in the $2-$3k range. The $700 upgrade doesn't seem to affect the resell value on the Alpha. As far as dealing with CAL, the service tech I worked with was Jim. He was very knowledgeable and friendly. The work was performed well and the equipment was returned safely. Frankly, the sonic ROI falls short.

In the past, CAL was very good and easy to deal with. I do know that the company has undergone quite a bit of internal "shake-ups", so things might or might not be the same now.

As to doing the upgrade, it will result in a more spacious and open sound with greater detail. You will lose some of the warmth and "intimacy" that the 16 bit DAC offers though, so keep this in mind. Sean
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