Is the upgrade service still available?

[ArnoNYC]

Good to hear the mistake was corrected. Are you now more happy after the upgrade sound-wise? Does it indeed sound better? I never got around to upgrading my two D200’s.

Hhhmmm good question. So far I'm happy but I can't objectively tell whether it's any better sound wise (or how much it has improved) as there are too many variables in my equation:

• the upgrade came a few months after our relocation, a period of time during which I did not use my amp much
  
• my system sits in our living room, the geometry of which is far from optimal (the room is almost a pentagon with some open walls, I don't have much flexibility in the location of the speakers, etc)
  
• my power source setup is a mess - the Devialet runs on the cheap stock power cable that came with the Expert 120, the turntable is on a power bar shared with many other AV devices, etc.
  
• my turntable was just serviced and I'm not convinced it's back to a fully functional condition
  
• I'm also just starting to try high-res streaming sources (starting with Qobuz - I may end up giving Roon a try), trying to understand which route to go and for which result... 
  

First observations, not limited to sound quality:

• I'm still amazed at the sound quality when playing certain vinyls (e.g. live performances) - whether it's better than with my original Ensemble 120 I can't honestly tell
  
• I feel I have more frequent and obvious static noise when listening to vinyls (may be related to my power source configuration...)
  
• I really appreciate the improved connectivity in the everyday use of the amp, and more specifically the Airplay connectivity, although I've had some issues with it over the past 24hrs... user errors I guess, or maybe issues with the SD card (for whatever reason last night upon reboot HDCP got disabled)
  
• the Devialet is used in a bypass mode to drive the front speakers when watching movies & TV, and the setup is definitely not as good as what we had in NYC. So for this specific application, I will refrain from judging the benefit of the upgrade as I have no valid comparison point
  

The added analog inputs and improved connectivity were objectively the main reason for me to upgrade, as they would make my Expert more usable on a daily basis. I also liked the idea to be offered an upgrade path and felt that the price of the 120-220 Pro w/ CI was reasonable. So from this standpoint I can already say that I'm happy with the upgrade.

As for the sound quality when streaming music or listening to LPs, I'll save my feedback for later 


PS) I can't stress enough how valuable this forum has been (and still is) in my Expert journey...