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Has anyone had dCS Elgar/Purcell Upgrades done?

I purchased older models of the dCS Elgar and Purcell on the used market. I am very impressed at the improvement in the sound of CDs in my system. I am now considering purchasing a Verdi Transport, but I must upgrade both the Elgar and Purcell units to take full advantage of the Verdi's DSD upsampling.

I have a number of questions:

Has anyone else had the upgrade done?
Since I did not purchase the Elgar and Purcell from a dealer, how can I arrange to have the upgrades done?
About how much will it cost? (the Elgar is about 5 years old, the Purcell about 3 years old).
How long does dCS take to do the upgrade?
What's the best way to ship them to the UK?

Any insight is appreciated.
davemon
audioguy123
40 posts
 
I have the non-upgraded versions of the Purcell and Delius AND I have the Verdi. You will get (IMO) 90% of the Verdi sound without doing the upgrade.

Before I bought the Verdi, I took my Purcell/Delius to a friend who had the upgraded Elgar and Purcell (and the Verdi) and did all kinds of combination comparisons.

The Verdi (with any of the other pieces, with or with out upgrade) provides a huge difference in transparency and to somewhat lesser extent, improves the base (in addition to some other benefits)

The upgraded upsampler and DAC seemed to improve the lower end more than anything else. IMO, you will get more meaningful improvement with the Verdi than with the updgrades without the Verdi. Get the Verdi now and do the upgrades when you have the $$.

To get the upgrades, call or email:

Audiophile Systems Ltd
8709 Castle Park Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46256

Telephone: 317 849 5880
Web site www.aslgroup.com

Enjoy
davemon OP
7 posts
 
Thanks AudioGuy123. Your answer was very helpful. Based on what I saw on the ASLGroup website it will cost about US$7000 (including shipping) to get both units upgraded to current spec! I haven't had my math verified by anyone at ASL OR dCS yet. Thanks for the info. about using the Verdi without the upgrades. That wasn't an option I had considered.
davemon OP
7 posts
 
Update: I verified with ASL the cost of upgrading both units including shipping is US$7050. It takes about 3 weeks and must be booked in advance using paperwork ASL can provide to you.
punwin
6 posts
 
I have Delius/Purcell/Verdi and had the Delius and Purcell upgraded. The combination - playing CD upsampled to DSD or SACD - is excellent. When I used to go back to vinyl whenever I could I now barely bother (and that's with a Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace).

My feeling about dCS is that they really do transcned the issues that noramlly relate to hi-fi. With much equipment you have to accept a trade off. One thing will offer better staging, while another with give better bass and so on. With dCS the machines work and play the music. Nothing less.
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