The Upgrade Company's Oppo mods?

CPP said:
And here it is,
---------------------------
Hi Chris,

Yes, any modification would void the warranty.

Best
Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
2629B Terminal Blvd.
Mountain
View, CA 94043
[email protected]
Tel: 650-961-1118
Fax:
650-961-1119

________________________________________
From: OPPO
Store
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2015 6:41 AM
To: OPPO Service
Subject:
Message From Chris

Message from Contact Us Web
Page

Name: Chris
E-Mail:
Phone:
Preferred Contact
Method: E-Mail
Category: Sales
Order Number:

Note: I was reading that the Modwright OPPO modifications will cancel out any warranty on the OPPO player, is
that correct ? and what about 'The Upgrade Company'
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post. You might have saved someone some money. I didn't see how OPPO would possibly stand behind anyone who mods their gear (or any any other manufacturer) after someone else has been inside it performing very questionable work. I know for sure that ARC is quite clear that they won't accept any piece of their gear for repair if it has been modified.

And Mark, what rules does AS have against shills whose sole purpose in joining this forum is to shill for a company-let alone shilling for a 'company' that has a long track record on internet forums of causing hate and discontent?

Just take a gander here: The Upgrade Company - Page 3 and here: The Upgrade Company Threatened Audioholics with Legal Action | Page 3 | Audioholics Home Theater Forums
in order to get a small flavor of where these threads lead and how this 'company' does business.
 
mep said:
And Mark, what rules does AS have against shills whose sole purpose in joining this forum is to shill for a company-let alone shilling for a 'company' that has a long track record on internet forums of causing hate and discontent?
Click to expand...
Hi mep,

I take offense to your comment. You have now labelled me as a "shill" that is "shilling" for a company. Absolutely not true. I'm simply sharing my experiences. I don't understand why this thread has to degrade from sharing experiences to accusing folks of being shills??

Dave
 
Tell us more Dave, what was your compelling reason for joining AS and sharing your experiences in this thread? Why did you feel the need to do it?
 
I've heard of TUC before. Basically, unless I understand the premise wrong, their position is "what you just bought sucks due to bad wiring and cheap parts and we know better and can fix it."

Am I close?

So this is a sales pitch of fear: get rid of your "crap parts" and not one of improvement modification like adding tubes to digital?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mike said:
I've heard of TUC before. Basically, unless I understand the premise wrong, their position is "what you just bought sucks due to bad wiring and cheap parts and we know better and can fix it."

Am I close?

So this is a sales pitch of fear: get rid of your "crap parts" and not one of improvement modification like adding tubes to digital?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

After reading a few pages on the TUC web site, your understanding seems about right to me.
 
arthurs said:
Tell us more Dave, what was your compelling reason for joining AS and sharing your experiences in this thread? Why did you feel the need to do it?
Click to expand...
Hi arthurs,

Actually, the thing that really attracted me to AS was the moniker - "We don't bite! The friendliest audio forum". However, after being labelled a "shill", I'm not so sure about that now.

Regarding the thread, the first post is why I thought I might have something to contribute.

Thanks,
Dave
 
Mike said:
I've heard of TUC before. Basically, unless I understand the premise wrong, their position is "what you just bought sucks due to bad wiring and cheap parts and we know better and can fix it."

Am I close?

So this is a sales pitch of fear: get rid of your "crap parts" and not one of improvement modification like adding tubes to digital?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

I'm sure everyone reads things a certain way, and I understand that. I think the TUC pitch, from my perspective, is that there are parts in equipment that can be bettered, and there is RFI that needs to be addressed. I think they even point out that expensive components can be bettered by these two items.

However, I don't perceive it as a sales pitch of fear. It can definitely read as over the top, but I'm betting there's truth to the fact that there are better parts that can be used in some areas of components, and I'm betting that reduction of RFI is beneficial as well.

That's why I had to try it, and I tried it on a lower cost component - my Pioneer BDP-05FD blu ray player. I wanted to find out - is this all a bunch of baloney, or is there something to it. I soon found out that there is something to it, as I mentioned in my experience with that BDP-05FD.

Was it a crazy life-changing improvement - no. Was it definitely an upgrade and better than it was - yes. Is the price I paid somewhat of a value for the improvement - yes.

And now, there are reviewers who are also finding that the improvements are there and are a good value.

By the way, I see that some of your equipment is some of the same brands that my dealer (Celestial Audio/Video in Phoenix, AZ) used to carry. Unfortunately, they had to close shop, after being open for 20 years. That's what put me on the road to looking at what would be next, and thus caused me to experiment with TUC. I've owned and had many Pass Labs and Cary pieces go through my room, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. My dealer had the Cary 805AE monoblocks, and I always enjoyed listening to them.

Thanks,
Dave
 
What this flies in the face of, is the makers of these great products. I guess if things were pitched truly as an upgrade, an improvement and included specific details, and didn't rely on "your new amp sucks because the parts are cheap and the wiring is poor - you just got suckered, sucker!", then people COULD view it as a true upgrade like some of the after market mods for cars,

But what I see is quite insulting to the people who created these fine pieces in the first place.

What has TUC created from scratch? Do they have amps? Preamps? Speakers? Or do they just criticize others?

Although I have no first hand experience with TUC products, I have been in this industry long enough to hear the stories from others.

That being said, I'm glad your experience has been a positive one. Hopefully other TUC customers will chime in here and speak of their experiences so we can get a bigger picture of what is done and the realized benefits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mike said:
What this flies in the face of, is the makers of these great products. I guess if things were pitched truly as an upgrade, an improvement and included specific details, and didn't rely on "your new amp sucks because the parts are cheap and the wiring is poor", then people COULD view it as a true upgrade like some of the after market mods for cars,

But what I see is quite insulting to the people who created these fine pieces in the first place.

What has TUC created from scratch? Do they have amps? Preamps? Speakers? Or do they just criticize others?

Although I have no first hand experience with TUC products, I have been in this industry long enough to hear the stories from others.

That being said, I'm glad your experience has been a positive one. Hopefully other TUC customers will chime in here and speak of their experiences so we can get a bigger picture of what is done and the realized benefits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

I agree with what you mentioned about flying in the face of Manufacturers. That's why Stereophile reviewers won't even consider reviewing the upgrades. However, reviewers from dagogo.com and positive-feedback.com have provided reviews.

To my knowledge, TUC has not created a component from scratch - I don't believe that is their business. Their business, as I see it, is to replace "some" parts and to apply some things which help with RFI. Through experience, they've gotten better at it. This is where I wondered if there was really going to be an improvement or not. Just because a part is supposed to be better than the one that was designed in with a component, doesn't mean it's going to make it better. However, they've done something right, because the upgrades do improve the performance.

Now you have me a bit curious, because it seems like a lot of the folks, like you, hear stories. I'm just wondering - who tells these stories? Are they from folks with actual experience with TUC? Seems like of all the forums I have read involving TUC, almost all of the negative comments were just speculation and/or came from reading speculation from other folks. In total, there was only 1-2 folks who actually had experience with TUC and complained about it, amidst the many folks who posted positive experiences. Seems like many folks have latched on to the 1-2 folks that had negative experiences, and they have formed their opinion based upon those. They've really poured it on in some of these threads, and then you see other folks repeating the same negative comments.

This thread is a great example and somewhat justifies my thoughts. So far, not one person with actual experience has chimed in that they had a negative experience.

I will say that David, from TUC, did himself a great disservice at times, by his posts in some of those forums. He let his emotions get to him, and he would go off. I can truly understand if folks have formed an opinion, based upon those comments. For me, he has been one of the nicest folks I have dealt with in all of my audio/video ventures. He has been extremely giving and trusting. He's had no issues when I returned several versions of TimePortal cables, since I didn't think they surpassed my references. However, I do have "some" of those cables now, since they have improved enough to justify replacing my references. It did take a few years and several versions of the cables. That's my experience.

Thanks,
Dave
 
Mike-I hope you can distinguish between real customers and sock puppets. If you look at one of the links I posted above, you will see another thread where thezaks has written a bunch of posts that mirror what is going on here. All of these threads have ended in disaster and I expect this one to be no different. Unlike companies that actually perform modifications which involve replacing resistors, capacitors, diodes, adding tube output circuits, and beefing up the power supply which can and will change the sound of the component (and we can argue if the change is better or worse and if the resale value has been negatively affected), that is not what TUC does. Knowledge of audio circuits and a background in electronics is not required for their mods.

It makes one wonder why someone who had an Oppo player modded by TUC would feel motivated to carry their flag and try to do damage control across several forums over a period of years.
 
mep said:
Mike-I hope you can distinguish between real customers and sock puppets. If you look at one of the links I posted above, you will see another thread where thezaks has written a bunch of posts that mirror what is going on here. All of these threads have ended in disaster and I expect this one to be no different. Unlike companies that actually perform modifications which involve replacing resistors, capacitors, diodes, adding tube output circuits, and beefing up the power supply which can and will change the sound of the component (and we can argue if the change is better or worse and if the resale value has been negatively affected), that is not what TUC does. Knowledge of audio circuits and a background in electronics is not required for their mods.

It makes one wonder why someone who had an Oppo player modded by TUC would feel motivated to carry their flag and try to do damage control across several forums over a period of years.
Click to expand...

Hi mep,

I'm actually happy that you posted those links, because it shows that the same kind of thing happens over and over. Yes, all of the threads ended in disaster. And yes, I have tried to post my opinions and provide my opinion on some of the baseless negative comments. I think that when folks take a really good look at these threads, they will see why the threads have been closed. As with this thread, where is all of the negativity coming from? Is it from the folks who post their positive experiences with TUC?

Actually, I believe TUC does replace some of the parts as part of their modification. Even if they only did RFI reduction and did not replace any parts, is that a bad thing? As long as it makes an improvement to the component, folks in general would be happy.

You're wondering why folks who have had a positive experience with TUC are happy to comment on that,even in multiple forums? That is not abnormal - it's what happens in many of the threads on any forum. Folks comment, good and bad, on their experiences with products. That seems normal to me. What makes me wonder is why folks who have zero experience with TUC come to the TUC threads to put down the company and the folks who have had positive experiences with the company. That seems a bit abnormal to me - seems to have the appearance of an agenda.

Dave
 
The areas of concern appear to be these:

1) your only posts here are in a thread which had been dead for over 18 months; it's not an unreasonable supposition to think you joined here merely to post in this thread

2) as Mark said, TUC's mods don't display any particular knowledge of engineering or electronics; they aren't much if any different than something anyone of us could do

3) there have been quite a few threads started at various Internet audio forums about peoples' horrible experiences dealing with TUC; perhaps they have no more basis than this one?
 
rbbert said:
The areas of concern appear to be these:

1) your only posts here are in a thread which had been dead for over 18 months; it's not an unreasonable supposition to think you joined here merely to post in this thread

2) as Mark said, TUC's mods don't display any particular knowledge of engineering or electronics; they aren't much if any different than something anyone of us could do

3) there have been quite a few threads started at various Internet audio forums about peoples' horrible experiences dealing with TUC; perhaps they have no more basis than this one?
Click to expand...

Hi Rob,

My responses below:

1) I don't think I've ever joined a thread at it's beginning. Whether for TV's, amplifiers, or anything. Whether it's this forum or AVS or Aficianado or others, I've never joined a thread at it's beginning. Some are within the first week or month, and some are threads that are a year or two old before I join them. I really didn't realize it's an issue to join a thread a year or two into its existence. I post in AVS regularly, and I do not see folks pinging others for being a newbie or joining a thread some period of time after its start. I've posted in some DIY stuff on the AVS forum, after the thread had been dead for a while, and nobody seemed to see that as an issue. Strange indeed...

Regardless, I have been upfront - I joined this forum/thread specifically for this subject. You are free to consider that as you like. When coming to a thread like this, I like to share my experiences with the discussion that is in question - even for those folks who like to share their negative comments.

2) Was it Mark or Mike? Anyway, I'm not sure how folks can make the assessment about knowledge of engineering or electronics? How can you be sure of all that is being done to a component? I'll say what I've been saying from the beginning. If, for you, the credentials are not satisfactory and you believe you can do the same yourselves, then there's really not a reason to be here. No worries, it's not for you - move on to something else. For me, I'm not worried about credentials or what has been done, so I suppose I'm a good candidate for TUC. (although, I admit, I did try it out with the least financial risk possible for myself) Like I mentioned, I wanted to find out if it was all baloney or if there was truly an upgrade. For me and my experience, I found it was the latter. Even when I get a new component (not from TUC), I'm not worried about the Designer's credentials, and I don't care what's inside. Ultimately, I care about the performance of the audio and/or video.

3) I have not seen that. I have only seen one or two folks on those forums, with actual experience, who claimed to have a negative experience. I think you'll find the same on this forum - nobody with actual experience has claimed a negative experience.


Dave
 
There are questions about it Dave. TUG or TUC or whatever you want to call it, "re"-sells "modded" product on its website at manufacturers RRP. It is not not an authorised dealer for any of these brands. No manufacturer warranty applies. These are clearly second hand modified goods for which onus is on TUG to warrant refund/repair/replace. Are they really that specialised to handle all of those brands? How could that be if they are not an authorised repairer by any manufacturer?

Where does he source these goods? The grey market or on demand. Money up front. On demand where the goods are not supplied by the customer is still grey market. Goods that are supplied by the customer is warranty void and needs to be "certified" or "re certified" by TUG on its terms for them to "accept the responsibility". Dubious. Like I said, would you as a customer want to test them out on a warranty claim of $50k for failed amplifier. And the poor international customer would have to ship that voltage modded POS that weighs a tonne at its own cost in the hope that TUG will come good on its second hand repair promise?

Speculation...? Read what they are selling online. It's a grey market SCAM. Don't get sucked into to it. Make no mistake, you are buying second hand goods from TUG by virtue of their practises. That is my opinion and I'm entitled to stating an opinion last I checked.

How come he hasn't been shut down yet? Maybe the serial numbers have been tampered with?

Those considering buying product off TUG have got to ask these questions and then think again.

The statements made have no representation and are opinions to raise discussion and awareness as is the typical purpose of a forum. YMMV. Do your own research and see for yourself!
 
It has been suggested that I should start my own side business. It would be easy. All I need is to buy my own 3m static roll and I'm away! I have enough experience because I have built my own CAPs project and have used that SOtM and 3m stuff and stuck it not so randomly here and there to make a measurably subjective difference.

I could call my side business "Steve's Upgrade Company" or SUC for short. SUC or TUG or even TUC if you are that way inclined or DIY because we can. But if my name was Fred, I know I could make a fortune! What do you think about that!? :roflmao:
 
After reading this thread, is there anyone on AS that would send their Oppo to TUC?
 
Steve said:
There are questions about it Dave. TUG or TUC or whatever you want to call it, "re"-sells "modded" product on its website at manufacturers RRP. It is not not an authorised dealer for any of these brands. No manufacturer warranty applies. These are clearly second hand modified goods for which onus is on TUG to warrant refund/repair/replace. Are they really that specialised to handle all of those brands? How could that be if they are not an authorised repairer by any manufacturer?

Where does he source these goods? The grey market or on demand. Money up front. On demand where the goods are not supplied by the customer is still grey market. Goods that are supplied by the customer is warranty void and needs to be "certified" or "re certified" by TUG on its terms for them to "accept the responsibility". Dubious. Like I said, would you as a customer want to test them out on a warranty claim of $50k for failed amplifier. And the poor international customer would have to ship that voltage modded POS that weighs a tonne at its own cost in the hope that TUG will come good on its second hand repair promise?

Speculation...? Read what they are selling online. It's a grey market SCAM. Don't get sucked into to it. Make no mistake, you are buying second hand goods from TUG by virtue of their practises. That is my opinion and I'm entitled to stating an opinion last I checked.

How come he hasn't been shut down yet? Maybe the serial numbers have been tampered with?

Those considering buying product off TUG have got to ask these questions and then think again.

The statements made have no representation and are opinions to raise discussion and awareness as is the typical purpose of a forum. YMMV. Do your own research and see for yourself!
Click to expand...
Hi Steve,

First, it's TUC - The Upgrade Company. Manufacturer Warranty "can" apply, in some cases. As I mentioned with my Onkyo, the mods did not affect the Warranty. Mine was fixed under Warranty by an Onkyo Authorized Repair Center. In the case of an Oppo, if there's a genuine concern and a genuine interest, then ask TUC about it. Perhaps, as it was previously suggested, TUC would handle any issues.

Yes, speculation, from folks who have zero experience. Opinion, that is fine. I'm happy to share my experience, if/when it differs from your opinion. I'm also willing to be honest about things, including the negative posts that TUC has had in older forum threads (other forums).

To my knowledge, TUC has been in business for 30 years. I just looked it up, and they have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Still, what matters more to me is my experience, which itself has been great.

If folks have those questions, they can:

a. consider the comments by folks who have actual experience with TUC
b. try it as I did, on a lower cost component, and see if it's baloney or not

I agree, folks should do their own research. That's what I did. I ended up looking past the negative posts from folks who had zero experience with TUC. In the end, I was either going to slap myself up the side of my head for not listening to those folks, or I was going to be glad I didn't listen to those folks. For me, it turned out to be the latter.

Dave
 
Steve said:
Fred's Upgrade Company, FUC no! :exciting:
Click to expand...

As much as my experience disagrees with your speculations and opinions, I've gotta give you guys credit on your creativity and sense of humor. Have a great weekend everyone.

Dave
 
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