your experience with mod or upgrade companies.....
i called c/j and talked with jeff, found out that cj now does upgrades for some of their equipment. my pv12 would be about 900.00 four just 5 caps. that seems a little high for just that amount of work. what other compy that you know of is doing this, i know a while back i heard about different ones, but you dont hear to much now. there was a group of indian guys i talked with a while back that seem to do a lot more for at lot less, but i forgot the name of them.. please give me your input, as always is appreciated.......
Thankful, I didn't see anything so secretive about the upgrade company mod. AVM fluid on every part, wires wrapped in aluminum foil tape with cloth tape covering the aluminum. Furutech outlet with bybees on the incoming power leads. Can't tell if parts were replaced or not because the AVM (anti vibration magic) fluid covered them all. Maybe some wiring replaced and also painted with this AVM and covered in aluminum and cloth.
The RFI/EMI riddance technology might be some Aluminum tape and ferrites along with this AVM fluid which is not a secret. I saw an Oppo 95 for sale here and asked the seller to post pics of the inside of the player. The caps were not covered with the AVM fluid like the other player. Makes you wonder if everyone gets the same mod or not even though the paperwork says signature upgrade.
Thank you for pointing me to these other modders. They seem to have more of an electronics background.
I may experiment with this AVM, foil tape, furutech and bybee with an older unit I'm not using however.
over the years, several modders have left the scene. This is a sad fact, as we need modders. Theses guys had the talent and know-how to make gear better after the manufacturers cut corners, used lesser parts in order to make a profit. To my knowledge, the stalwarts like ARC and C-J, still provide excellent upgrade service. Mod-Wright is one of the few "indie" operations still around. Happy Listening!
I own the Oppo 105 that was upgraded by John Tucker of Exemplar Audio and the upgrade is simply stunning. Highly recommended.
The Upgrade Company goes after the radio frequency & electromagnetic radiation issue. They are very secretive about what they are doing to tackle the issue. There is really no reason for all of the secrecy.
I have a Oppo BDP-105. If and when I mod the unit it would most likely be sent to Mod Wright. Not too sure about the "Upgrade company". Both Mod Wright and Rick at EVS systems explain what is done and what happens to the unit when modified! If the Upgrade company choose to keep it a secret they won't get my money.
WOW!!! I was sent some pictures of an Upgraded Company player and the Oppo had blue paint all over the place and the aluminum foil tape that wraps around the wires were covered in a black cloth tape. The guy said the blue paint was AVM fluid. Whatever that means. The aluminum foil tape looks like tape my heating guy uses and the cloth tape looks like tape that you use to fix a hole in your old VW seat. Maybe all this stuff helps with vibration? Not sure about the EMI/RFI riddance technology verbage on the Upgrade Company website. Does the tape and blue fluid get rid of distortion or something? Not my cup of tea that's for sure.
Trying to find members who have recent experiences with the Upgrade Company. Looking at a modded Oppo 105 from them but I noticed on their website that they don't disclose the mod work do to patents or proprietary secrets. I did see some pictures of the inside of a player on the AVS forum but thought there was no way that unit came from a reputable company.
There was some type of blue paint all over a circuit board and wires wrapped in what looked like aluminum foil tape.
Does anyone know if the Upgrade Company uses this blue paint and aluminum tape inside the unit?
zd542.. your advise may have been the best... you told me just what i needed to know. i didnt think just changing caps would be enough..thinking more toward getting new amp all together..
"07-12-14: Kennesawjet I beg to differ, I now its not the premiere line but its not that bad of an amp.............."
I never said it was a bad preamp. The models that came after the PV-12 were a lot better, both the Premier and regular models. Just replacing the caps will not get you there. I know my recommendations are not the same as most of the other posters. But you did ask for advice, and I've owned the PV-12 when it was current and compared with several other CJ preamps. Its just my honest opinion.
I think when you go to sell it you can say, "modified by some Indian guys who do a lot for the money" and see how many takers you get. I wouldn't let anyone other than the factory touch it. If you think it's too expensive, then don't do it and live with what you have.
The PV-12 was never that good of a preamp. I don't think its worth putting that kind of money into. You would probably be better off selling it and put the money toward one of their better models.
there were these indian guys that i talked with, on ebay or amazon, that were doing these as a side thing. that did a lot for the money, cant remember the info or name of the compy....
Where are you located? Most major cities have some really good techs who will test the caps and tell you if they need replaced. Quality repairs you can ship to: Audioclassics are mac specialists but can fix anything. I've used Exemplar, good but slow, partsconnexion-Chris Johnson is a genius but shipping to Canada sucks and my last one is Vinyl Renaissance in Kansas City-call Josh and talk to him. For vintage gear, I keep it local (Phil's radio & TV) No web site or email, just great old fashioned work.
CJ is a top shelf company and they will do you proud with any upgrade offering. I had a CD player that they repaired and upgraded some caps with and it came back sounding much better than before.
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