Is the upgrade service still available?

[chrisc]

Yes, that is what it sounded like

There is a sales agent in Cape Town, from whom I bought the unit in 2015
I approached him in December about proceeding with an upgrade, since by then I had not received any reply from Devialet
He also assumed that the upgrade offer outlined on Devialet's website would still apply
When I received a reply from Devialet referring me back to this same sales agent, I again spoke to him
The actual South African agency is held by Vivid Audio, who are in Durban, some 1500km away from me
He explained that the amp would need to be sent to Vivid Audio and when they have a few upgrade units ready to hand, send all these to Paris.  They do not perform any work at their facility
Obviously there is local shipping both ways to be added too

In the meantime, I spoke to a friend who did a direct upgrade 2 years back successfully
There is a system where the carrier (usually UPS) register the serial number with Customs prior to shipping, it then is returned as a repair and no Duty and VAT is payable since this was paid on the initial import.  The serial number is checked and that is that

Vivid Audio regard this as too much trouble and you are charged Duty (16% and VAT another 15%).  I suggested this was a sheer waste of money, but this is the way they operate