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Post by karmanfamily on Sept 18, 2015 9:01:49 GMT -5
Dear fellow Emotiva'ers,
for a while I have been thinking about offering an upgrade service (kinda like The Upgrade Company and Modwright, but without the snake oil and mysteries...).
Low cost upgrades in power supplies for more Watts or more efficient Watts.
Cap and wiring upgrades to improve sound.
I am thinking to offer upgrades from $400 to whatever you want to spend pretty much.
Does anyone have any thoughts about that?
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Post by pedrocols on Sept 18, 2015 9:54:00 GMT -5
I think in general what I see in this forum is that most members will buy a bigger amp instead if they want more power...
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Post by bluemeanies on Sept 18, 2015 14:34:55 GMT -5
+1
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Post by garbulky on Sept 18, 2015 16:59:38 GMT -5
I think it's a good idea. You may not get a lot of bites but just a bit. I think for instance an upgrade in transformer size of an XPA-200 and XPA-100 may get you some bites. They use the amp blades used on a XPA-5. And we know that the XPA-5 can put out a ton of power in to two channel due its larger power supply and other things. So it may bring interest. I don't know how heat dissipation would work though in the smaller chassis.
Maybe even putting a 1200 kva on an XPA-1 L. Upgrading the cap quality on the higher end XPA-1 amps may also get you some interest. Of course these upgrades will void Emotiva's warrant but I think anybody wanting this will be okay with that.
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Post by brubacca on Sept 18, 2015 17:03:30 GMT -5
I honestly don't see much of a market for this. Many here buy emotiva because they can't afford more ( obviouly not everybody).
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rpm
Minor Hero
Posts: 42
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Post by rpm on Sept 18, 2015 20:14:32 GMT -5
Warranty void For sure....
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Post by lehighvalleyjeff on Sept 18, 2015 22:38:47 GMT -5
I've had positive experiences with mods. Most recently I had my Carver TFM-55x rebuilt by Hi-tech audio and replaced all caps,etc with tighter tolerance, audio grade stuff and polypropelyne bypass capacitors. The amp sounds amazing and much better than before the mods to my ears.
I also have a Musical Fidelity X-PRE tube preamp (inexpensive) which I sent out to a guy in Colorado who sent balls to the wall with better tubes, vishay resistors, black gates, etc. it also sounded great and I had no regrets.
With my emo gear, to risk voiding their generous 5 year warranty the sound improvement from the mods would have to be so significant that it's unlikely i would really consider it. For out of warranty stuff I would feel differently.
Not sure what could be done to my XPR-1's to make that much of an improvement though...
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Post by pedrocols on Sept 18, 2015 22:54:28 GMT -5
Not sure what could be done to my XPR-1's to make that much of an improvement though... Just put some tubes in it...  |
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,223 
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Post by novisnick on Sept 18, 2015 22:58:20 GMT -5
I personally would not void my warranty to do this,,,,,but!!,,,,,,after experation and failure of an amp I would very much consider a rebuild and improvement to said amp.
Otherwise I would have considered purchasing a better amp to start with. 10, 15, 25 years from now, when/if my XPR-1(s) fail, i will strongly consider doing this. Till then, not happening.
Good luck and God bless.
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klinemj
Emo VIPs 
Honorary Emofest Scribe
Posts: 14,742
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Post by klinemj on Sept 18, 2015 23:38:28 GMT -5
I would not be interested. When I see people off "upgrades", they most typically change parts and show no evidence that it helped and certainly no proof that it did not hurt performance.
Manufacturers put in a lot of effort to make something sound good. If no proof is provided of an improvement, count me out.
Mark
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Post by vneal on Sept 19, 2015 7:29:55 GMT -5
I would pass
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Post by lehighvalleyjeff on Sept 19, 2015 8:04:39 GMT -5
Not sure what could be done to my XPR-1's to make that much of an improvement though... Just put some tubes in it... XPR-1's don't need tubes. I'm gonna have to pass |
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Post by vcautokid on Sept 19, 2015 8:41:53 GMT -5
I have had the Mod fever in my travels for a few years. Unless you really take a whole-listic approach, you are really just spending money. In some cases bigger caps, and better caps, op amps, might make a difference. But will it really pay in the long run. I.E. reliability, etc. I had a CD player from a manufacturer, and the same one with the "SE" goodies in it. At least to my ears, no difference in sonics at all.
This is not to say everyone is going to have the same results as me. There are certainly components by their nature that have their own character of sound. To me it is kind of like rolling tubes. I can, but do I really want too. Seems to me, I would rather do other things like power management, sound treatment of the room, look closer at my speakers/headphones to extract that much more improvement in performance. Sure if done well, you can get the results from upgrades, but not always is my feeling.
I think the basics, most of them practically free will do more for you IMHO.
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Post by AudioHTIT on Sept 19, 2015 11:32:44 GMT -5
I had some Threshold amps modded by Jon Soderberg years ago when they needed repair, and when the power supply caps were old enough to be iffy. I extended the life of some great amps, the sonic improvements were small but noticeable, and got several more years out of them before I eventually wanted something different.
Upgrades typically don't add much resale value, so to me only make sense when the amp is out of warranty and maybe broken. With the price on Emo amps already so reasonable, by the time they're out of warranty you could probably get something new for not much more than a mod (depending on the amp and mod of course). Maybe if someone found a good price on an older, working amp and wanted to put a little money into a tweak it would make sense, othwise I don't see a big market.
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Post by highfihoney on Sept 19, 2015 20:32:38 GMT -5
I just dont see whats to be gained from modding properly functioning gear , of any brand or price point , at resale time mods by anybody to the gear kills its value & makes it much harder to flip .
There are exceptions but for most gear it makes selling it much much harder.
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Post by leonski on Sept 21, 2015 1:19:20 GMT -5
I had some Threshold amps modded by Jon Soderberg years ago when they needed repair, and when the power supply caps were old enough to be iffy. I extended the life of some great amps, the sonic improvements were small but noticeable, and got several more years out of them before I eventually wanted something different. Upgrades typically don't add much resale value, so to me only make sense when the amp is out of warranty and maybe broken. With the price on Emo amps already so reasonable, by the time they're out of warranty you could probably get something new for not much more than a mod (depending on the amp and mod of course). Maybe if someone found a good price on an older, working amp and wanted to put a little money into a tweak it would make sense, othwise I don't see a big market. In many cases, 'upgrades' are so subjective that you may actually HURT resale value. As for warranty? What do other modders do? Can they or DO they offer warranty protection? Now, let's say you DO manage to squeeze in better caps and resistors. The resistors should fit. They are all pretty much the same size, based on wattage. Are you good with surface mount? CAPS, on the other hand are frequently large to huge in audiophile brands. You may not have room on-board for the new, larger caps, regardless of sonic benefits. Installing headers for those wanting to go for 'opamp rolling' may work, but based on labor / benefit and what may be a single person operation? I don't see the word 'profit' in your future. |
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