I wanted to wait to post again until I received my upgraded dCS gear. First of all, regarding dCS and any service issues, dCS kept me informed of the progress of my components by email, and were a week ahead of schedule in the updating process. I also paid to have my Elgar updated to the black Elgar plus, so they sent me a brand new unit. Cool! It only took two days to ship the units to my door from the UK.
Now for the sound. Myoussif is right. The 1394 upgrade is much better in terms of smoothness and liquidity, and is even more detailed and soundstages better than the original version. I'm not using a Verdi yet, but they installed a word clock in the Purcell that links to the Elgar via BNC SPDIF. The air and ambience retrieval is stunning. Using a Verdi, the word clock would go from the transport into the Elgar Plus. Amazing stuff! Can't wait until I can afford the Verdi. Build quality is top notch. Together, these components weigh in and are about the size of a 100 watt amp. I would encourage anyone with older dCS components to update to the current version.
Now for the sound. Myoussif is right. The 1394 upgrade is much better in terms of smoothness and liquidity, and is even more detailed and soundstages better than the original version. I'm not using a Verdi yet, but they installed a word clock in the Purcell that links to the Elgar via BNC SPDIF. The air and ambience retrieval is stunning. Using a Verdi, the word clock would go from the transport into the Elgar Plus. Amazing stuff! Can't wait until I can afford the Verdi. Build quality is top notch. Together, these components weigh in and are about the size of a 100 watt amp. I would encourage anyone with older dCS components to update to the current version.