I have had 4 different upgraded players in the last 3 years worked on by David Schulte of the Upgrade Company. All have worked flawlessly and one in particular a Denon 2900 has at least 3,000 hours of run time on it and it is still playing in someone else’s system. I wanted to know the durability of this player along with its wonderful sound. It was put to the test and passed with flying colors. The next test was that the Upgrade Company would send me out an EMM Labs cdsa se player for comparisons on my system. The EMM is one of 3 top players that Schulte uses for comparing upgraded units. Just to put my mind at ease Mr. Schulte said he wanted to send me one of these players. I was kind of reluctant because of the cost of the EMM and possible shipping problems but went ahead with the process.
Did the 2900 smoke the EMM? No it didn't. The EMM is a fabulous player and owners of this unit should be proud. However, the 2900 was up to par to my amazement and if you had twenty people listen to the two players the room could easily be divided. At this point I knew I wanted to try another upgraded player with the intent of purchasing it if I liked it. In fact I paid the Upgrade Company for a Denon 5910 with a guarantee I could return it if I was not happy with it. I had a feeling that would not happen. I was right. This 5910 out of the box stone cold was a big improvement and after a couple of days you could hear the layers of music coming out and begin to grow. The EMM is no match for this player period. The size of the stage and instruments were leagues above along with the sense of realism and openness. The extension on cymbals carried out further and wider with the refinement you would never expect from a Denon. It's not a Denon anymore that’s for sure. Regarding the 2900, it did not have at the time what Mr. Schulte considers his best work to date. One person wrote to me and said he sent his Denon 2910 to the Upgrade company a couple of weeks ago and then drove a couple of hours to pick it up after it was done and was able to compare in there system the 2910 to the Esoteric X01 limited and a Wadia 581i and he said the 2910 was better in spades. I am a firm believer that the upgraded Denon 5910 would rival any stock player regardless of price. I would not hesitate to bring it over to anyone's house to compare to whatever they had. But, if I had the money I think I would would want to try an upgraded EMM CDSA se. Maybe an upgraded Wadia 581i with it's built in pre-amp could be a great way to go too. These dreams will be put on hold for a while.
Recently a guy by the name of Ezra who has a mega buck system called me to ask me a few questions about my Denon and then told me he had already sent his EMM CDSA se unit to the Upgrade Company. He said when he talked with Mr. Schulte he knew that he was talking with someone that is very excited and passionate about his work and felt totally comfortable that his unit would be in good hands. He has nothing to worry about. I think he just wanted some positive reassurance. The picture you see above is nothing like what is in my player. In fact I would ask for the documentaion papers for that upgrade. I don't think the person would come up with anything.
I have had other modified players in my system. APL DV50 and an Underwood SA-11 with ulimiate mods. The stock EMM cdsa and the upgraded Denon 2900 or 5910 are miles ahead.
