Hydra 8 -- Normal for labels on back to wear off?

Thanks. Yeah, probably need to get a new one...

RTN1 -- that's music to my ears! Thank you.
Do you really think this could be normal?
(Or at least not indicative of something bad?)

I was speculating someone tried to clean it with an abarasive or a brush, or maybe it was close to a hot tube or class-A amp (or a heating vent or radiator).

I really don't want to replace something that works well.

Except for the paint, it looks to be in as-new condition, with shiny screws and equally shiny plastic outlets, and looks, feels and weighs the same as my other Hydra 8.

I mean, I never heard of guys selling counterfeit Hydras on the street along with an arm full of Rolexes.
Thanks in advance for any more thoughts on this.

Elizabeth, thank you very much for your help here.
Yes, the serial number is fine. It is on a little gold plate that Shunyata now uses (I can see the same plate in pictures of other Hydras online.)

OK, I looked closely at my other Hydra 8 that I bought new several years ago, and I noticed when looking closely slight paint imperfections, like the corner of some letters falling off.

I think Shunyata has some paint issues. Does anyone else see paint-chipping on the back of their Hydra?

But by the way, these Hydras sure sound nice. I did an A/B test just now by plugging my EMM player right into the wall vs. the Hydra and, with the Hydra, the bass was clearly more defined and firmer, and the highs are more silky but not rolled off. Everything is just easier to listen to and relaxing w/o any loss of detail. So, paint or not, I'm hooked on Hydras.

Thanks Jim. I didn't know there was a version-2; I thought there was just the V-Ray version.

Thanks Jim. Grant at Shunyata told me not to worry about the paint issue. I will probably look into upgrading sometime, but the Hydra 8 (mine are from 2004) works wonders as is. I would be curious to hear from others what improvement come from the V-Ray or the Series 2.