Electrocompaniet EMC II CD Player

Return on the investment question...I'd love to know which offers a more significant improvement, the spider or going from the standard 24/192 version to the "UP" status, especially considering the prices.

Barrelchief, I would not miss out on either the 1-UP upgrade or the Spider. I did the 1-UP upgrade a year and a half ago and it was a solid improvement. The Spider was surprisingly good, but my system is tremendously more revealing now when I added the Spider than 1.5 years ago and it is now hard to separate what each upgrade will be worth more to you in your system.

If you have the cash to do both (and I would do both), I would suggest that you do the 1-UP (get them to replace the internal RCA connector with a shielded silver wire as well if you are going to use the RCA out from the EMC) and then get the Spider.

If you do not get enough sonic improvement out of the Spider in your system, you can sell it to Subaruguru (if he has not broken down and bought a Spider by then). I am guessing that the 1-UP will also be a lot easier re-sale in the used market if you ever decide to sell it down the road and you should be able to recover a percentage of the cost of the Spider.

You can contact Brian Ackerman at Artistic Audio or Fs Audio and work your best deal on the 1-UP upgrade. The turn around time was only a couple of days at the factory plus shipping time when I did mine. The Importer, Allan Warshaw was good about booking appointments and will have you ship your unit directly to them when they are ready to work on yours. You won't be without your player for long.

Finally received and installed the Spider today. The first thing I noticed is that a CD has a bit more back and forth play on the new replacement spindle than was the case with the stock spindle. Anyone else notice this? I expected a tighter tolerance, and would've thought this is necessary for limiting physical movement of a CD in the player. After all, isn't this the purpose of the Spider design?

I like to think I'm a good listener. Being visually and aurally critical is a major requirement of my profession. Having listened to the EMC 1-UP with Spider, I bow down before those of you who notice an obvious and striking improvement in the player's performance with the addition of the Spider clamp. You are Golden Eared X-Men. The Electrocompaniet EMC 1-UP is an excellent player. It was an excellent player before I had Empirical Audio mod it, and before I added the Spider clamp. It remains an excellent, if subtley improved player after the mods and addition of the Spider clamp. There is nothing more I know of that can be done to tweak-out this machine. Do I think the $1700+ tweaks have made it 28% better...no. Would I do it again? Probably, because I'm an insane audio nut in a never ending quest for the "Grail". However, I'm not convinced of the improvements the Spider has made.

Well Tvad, that's very interesting. You are the first I've heard of that was not impressed with the improvement wrought by the Spider. Not that I've heard from that many, but the few that have commented have been quite enthusiastic. I wonder if you have installed it correctly? Given the play you're experiencing, this isn't an unreasonable question. Also, while I think the EMC-1UP a very good player, IMO, it can most definitely be improved upon sonically and I have heard that Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio has worked some magic with the player. Unfortunately, the magic comes at substantial expense for those willing to take the plunge. One look under the hood of the EMC-1UP and even a decidedly non techie like me can see it's not exactly built to the highest standards. IMO, it's quite a tribute to the designer's skills that the EMC-1UP sounds as good as it does considering the parts involved. As for the Spider, if I can get one at a discounted price, I'll still take the plunge despite your assessment. If it yields a 3-5% improvement, I'll be satisfied.

Jm88439, everyone must decide for themselves on these things. I am truly amazed by those who can discern minute improvements with every adjustment that is made in their systems. I wish I had the ability to do the same. I have heard substantial improvements in my own system from time to time with the addition of new loudspeakers, preamp, or even interconnects. I recently posted my amazement at the improvement Empirical Audio Holphonic PC and Ridge Street Audio Midnight Silver Edition II interconnects made in my system. However, one can read in my past posts in these forums that I am also not one to immediately jump on a bandwagon, and more often than not I am dubious of claims like, "bass was more tuneful, controlled, detailed and a bit more extended. Overall there was more air around the instruments and voices. We got much more of a sense of the recording venue and there was more resolution and focus in all of the frequencies." Similar claims are made over and over, whether the reviewer is referring to loudspeakers, power cords or isolation cones. I just wonder how much is self-fulfilling desire to hear what we wish to hear? (NOT to pick on Cello...I believe he hears what he hears...this is just representative of comments stated in professional and amateur reviews everywhere.) Again, though, let me be clear, I respect and admire those who hear differences in their systems with every minor tweak. Perhaps the Spider does contribute a 2-3% improvement, but I am not able to hear it at this point in my listening, and perhaps this is due to the wonderful work Steve Nugent did in his modification of my player!