2. misc-audio
  3. 134120-10032

"Original" equipment vs. upgraded equipment

Hi,

I've always been curious as to why this is so important...at least to some folks? I've even seen one ad that stated: "born that way and not an upgrade". (Give me break.) As long as the equipment was upgraded by the OEM and brought up to current specs, what difference would it make, sonically or otherwise? Do people really believe that an upgraded piece of equipment is somehow inferior to a non upgraded piece? Can you hear a difference? Will it not last as long?  Please do tell. Thanks.
grk

Showing 1 response by oregonpapa

oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa
4,867 posts
 
  • "One example would be an ARC Ref 75 being upgraded to a 75SE. Is the upgraded version inferior to an original 75SE?"


I owned the REF-75. Replaced the KT-120’s with the KT-150 for a nice upgrade. When ARC came out with the REF-75-SE I sold the REF-75 and bought a new REF-75-SE. The SE version has less grain, is more dynamic, is more three dimensional, and overall, is more organic and pleasurable to listen to. Definitely not a backward move.

I recently bought one of Grover’s upgraded Pioneer Elite DVD players to use as my main CD player. Upgraded caps and a beefier power supply. I didn’t A/B the unit, but the upgrades made for a totally killer CD player.

Thanks Grover. :-)

Frank
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