Sonic Changes of the Level-2 modification

The modified amps are warmer in the midrange with more body. They are clearly more musical. Treble response is more extended and smoother.

Images are far better delineated on large scale musical passages. The finished amp is more natural sounding with more tube-like depth as well as better dynamics.

They sound faster w/ better bass definition, low frequency extension and weight. Micro level detail is increased across the frequency band from bass to treble.

Transparency, the ability to see into the soundstage is increased and the unit now also has and a wider and deeper 3D soundstage. The modified design takes a great vale amp and makes it great!

• One sheet of SoundCoat chassis damping material cut and applied where applicable
• Eighteen Audio Note Tantalum ½ watt signal resistors are added in the signal path
• Sixteen Black Gate N, NX, FK and C-Series electrolytic capacitors are used in various input, output and power supply locations
• Eight polystyrene film and tin foil 1% film capacitors used in various filter locations
• Two Multicap PPMFX series 0.22uf metalized polystyrene caps are used in the Zobel network
• Two dual Burr Brown OPA-627 op amp modules (on DIP daughter boards), the world's best audio op amps, replace the inexpensive opamps of the stock amp.
• Eight International Rectifier Hexfreds and Four Vishay-Telefunekn ultra-fast, soft recovery diodes are used to rebuild the bridge rectifiers
• One sheet of ERS EMI/RFI suppression paper applied in critical locations
• Two feet of DH LABS 23awg “Revelation series” pure 99.999% silver solid core input signal wire, with Teflon tape-wrap dielectric
  
• Three feet of Connex BL-AG pure silver “shielded” interconnect cable
• Three feet of Neotech 18awg UP-OCC solid-core copper output signal wire
• One pair of premium Vampire “direct gold plated over copper body” RCA female jacks are added
• One pair of Cardas dual Rhodium over copper binding posts replace the cheap brass posts of the stock unit
• One Acme Audio Cryo silver IEC AC inlet is added
• Four EAR large Sorbothane isolation feet are added to reduce airborne vibration.
• Ten feet TRT WonderSolder used throughout
• 9 hours labor
  

Sonic improvements of the Level-1 mod

The unit is quieter. Blackss are blacker, resolving more low level detail with better ambience. IIt is a tad warmer, with a more liquid midrange. The little glare of the stock unit is now gone with a warmer presentation. Images are sized better and more defined. Stage width and depth are both improved.

Transparency is improved and you can now look farther into the soundstage. Bass slam and extension are dramatically improved, with fuller weight and authority.. The unit now sounds more like solid-state in this area and competes with mega-buck players.

The Level-2 mod takes the Level-1 player and adds another 50% improvement. The Level-2 is a world class player that is untouched at anywhere near its price. Add the clock and it will compete with anything under $15k.

• One pair of premium machined Vampire direct gold plated over copper body Teflon insulated RCA female jacks to replace the cheap stamped jack modules
• 4 BlackGate STD grade PS caps, NX grade DAC power supply caps and N grade output coupling capacitors
• 6 Riken Ohm ½ and one watt 1% carbon comp gold plated resistors in the signal path
• 4 IR Hexfred ultra-fast soft recovery diodes in the power supply
• 6 dual op amps (in the I-V and buffer positions) with six Analog Devices AD8620 modules (one of the worlds best audio types) + 6 gold-plated machined DIP-style IC sockets
• 2 sheets of SoundCoat chassis damping material cut & applied where applicable, to control chassis resonances
• 4r pieces of DH LABS 99.999% pure solid-core long-grained silver output signal wires with foamed Teflon tape wrap dielectric
• WBT 4% high silver contentsolder used throughout
• It takes 5 hours of labor to complete the mod.
  
  

The following details the Level-2 modifications for the A5CD Player [$1,660 plus shipping retrofit, $3,590 for new players with preinstalled mod]

All Level-1 upgrades plus the following:

• 4 additional Vishay SF-4007 ultra-fast soft-recovery rectifying diodes are added to the power supply
• We upgrade the main diodes from the Hexfred type to Cree SiC Schottky diodes.
• We replace the Analog Devices AD8620 op amps with the world's best- sounding opamp, the Burr-Brown OPA-627 dual module - 6 pieces total are used.
• 2 additional RIiken Ohm ½ and one watt signal path 1% gold plated carbon comp. resistors are added in the I-V section
• Two Rel-Cap Teflon TFT film and foil coupling caps bypass the main BlackGate output caps
• 10 additional BlackGate electrolytic caps are added to the high voltage power supply positions
• We replace the IEC AC inlet with an Acme Audio cryogenically-treated silver type
• We replace the analog filter caps with 4 x 1% polystyrene film and tin foil types
• 7.5 hours total labor to complete the mod.
  

Options

• Add an LC Audio clock with a digital power supply for $480
  

New machines will come with our 2-year warranty on the entire machine. After-market mods come with 1-one year warranty on all work performed

Sonic improvements of the Level-2 mod are:

• The unit is quieter, silences are blacker to resolvie more low level detail, ambience & 3-dimensionality
• It's also smoother while remaining very detailed. The upper midrange is a little softer and more tube-like
• It's more dynamic, seemingly playing louder with more dynamic contrasts
• Imaging is better defined and the soundstage is wider and deeper
• Bass is improved, with fuller weight and authority like much more expensive machines.
• Transparency is much improved to see farther into the soundstage
• Images are sized better and more defined
• The modified unit is now akin to a killer upsampling CD player with an exceptional preamplifier.
  $1590.00 for a Level-2 retrofit with upgraded LC Audio clock. While they last, new CD-Pre's with Level-2 mods are $2290 and $2690.00 with an upgraded clock.

• 8 x oltra-fast soft recovery Vishay-Telefunken Fred diodes in the power supply
• 17 x Black Gate Standard, N,FK and C grade electrolytic capacitors around the coupling caps and throughout the power supply
• 24 x Riken Ohm 1% precision Carbon-comp 0.5-watt resistors with gold-plated leads in the signal path
• 12x Polystyrene film and foil caps in the analog filter
• 2 x REL-CAP TFT grade, 0.022uf Teflon film and tin foil bypass capacitors for the main coupling caps
• 6 x Burr-Brown OPA627-based opamp assemblies mounted on single-to-dual adapter PCB assemblies for I-V conversion stage, analog filter, output Buffer and preamp
• 6 gx old-plated machined 8-pin DIP IC sockets
• 2 x sheets of SoundCoat damping material to internal chassis
• 4 x large EAR compliant Sorbothane isolation feet to absorb vibration
• 1 pr. Vampire RCA jacks for pre-outs, OFC copper body gold-plated
• 2 ft. DH Labs pure 99.99% solid-core silver, foamed Teflon dielectric as preamp output wire
• TRT Wonder solder throughout
• approximately 6 hours of installation labor
  

Trivista 21 Level-2 mod - $990 + freight retro-fit

This modification installs the following:

• 6 x Burr-Brown OPA627 op amps (world's best for audio) assemblies for the I-V conversion, analog filter and output buffer positions
  
• 6 x BlackGate power supplies caps and Telefunken high speed diodes
  
• 4 x BlackGate coupling caps with TFT Teflon bypass caps
  
• 8 x Telefunken high speed soft-recover Fred-style diodes
  Polystyrene caps for the analog filter stage
  
• 24 x Riken Carbon-Comp 1% resistors (with gold leads) for the signal path
  
• Vampire direct Gold-over-Copper RCA jacks
  
• DH Labs pure 99.999% solid-core silver signal wire with formed Teflon dielectric throughout the internal upgrades.
  
• SoundCoat chassis dampening material to quiet the chassis.
  
• Illuminati Ohm-aha 75 ohm digital hook-up wire to replace the inexpensive stock wire
  
• An Acme Audio silver-plated cryogenically treated IEC connector
  
• WBT silver solder used throughout
  
• 6 hours labor to perform the mod
  

Sonic improvements with the Level-2 are:

Improvements over the stock model are amazing. Bass and dynamics are dramatically improved by our op amps, BlackGates and diodes. It is now smoother sounding (resistors and caps), more transparent (connectors, wire) and imaging and 3-dimensionality are world-class

Our mod takes this accoladed Stereophile Class A-rated component to a much higher level. This mod is offered for a fraction of the cost it would have been if originally manufactured with these parts.

The Level-2 unit will now compete with any DAC made, regardless of price.

Warranty is 90 days parts & labor on modifications we perform on pre-owned units. See the manufacturer's website for further information.