Is Component "Upgradability" Important ?

bear in mind there are improvement upgrades to existing models, like HDCD capability or a phono board, which are well and good. then there are replacement upgrades which make the former current model obsolete overnight. i'm not sure what the general feeling is, but in the case of obsolesence, i'd prefer to have an original iteration of any product then to have one 'that sounds just like the new but is really an old' version of anything. in general i'm a bit wary of anything that's been modified from original factory spec. modified goods wear a red flag in the form of a long winded explanation for the mod and may be harder to sell down the road. so all in all, upgradability is important if you can decide from day one that you're going to stay loyal to a certain model. but i doubt this need be necessary when there's so much else out there worth trying and listening.

Hi Mcdh1; it seems to me that upgradeability is most important with components that have rapidly changing (improving) technology, and to me this means digital "stuff", especially DACs, CD players etc. I recently purchased an ML 360S DAC that had been upgraded from a 36S-- the 360S had been owned and upgraded by a high level Madrigal employee, and the unit was in perfect condition. This 360S DAC is now fully software upgradable, and I intend to keep it for years. I am not nearly as concerned about amp, pre-amp, or speaker upgradeability-- but digital technology changes so fast that upgradability is important, IMO. Cheers. Craig

I think upgradability is way oversold as an attribute. In theory, it would appear to be very beneficial, but in reality it seems to have mixed results. There's no doubt that new models cause old models to depreciate overnight, but they don't perform any worse in the morning. Upgradability can certainly extend the life of a component, but there are definite limits. One other form of upgradability I'll throw on the table is Lexicon's - they have very competitive trade-up offers when they bring out new models.

Hi,

I upgraded a ML38 to a ML380S. Given the upgrade cost me $2650 and the original piece $1600, it put me about as much as most of the upgraded 380S around. However, I ran into a 380S for $3500 which I'm sure plays just as good as my "new" 380S.

When ML upgrades their AVP's I'm selling and buying used.

Bill E

I bought a used original Lexicon DC-1 v1.02 which worked great but cost a ton to upgrade. I see no advantage to owning new upgraded outdated equipment.

If I were a manufacturer, I would go into offering upgrades especially when I felt my sales going down, my stocks were fairly low and a new model was in the works, ready to hit or already on the market. I would send the new model to be reviewed in the audio press and would drop the hint, that an upgrade was available. Often it ain't about music, its all about money. The press likes it. It gives them something to write about. But the consumer often is just exploited. That's why we stopped buying ARC from about 20 years ago, because we were getting tired of their upgrade policy, which has not changed to this day. According to their logic, the old stuff must have sounded like crap, which it didn't and the new releases like heaven, which they didn't either.