A setup fee is charged when an instrument is sent in for repair diagnosis or upgrades. In the case of repairs, this covers the overhead of receiving, unpacking, and inspecting the unit for shipping damage, opening it up to determine the cause of the described problems, inspecting for other issues, then after repairs, testing it again, listening to it, and repacking it for shipping. Upgrades have similar overhead (ordering upgrade parts, receiving upgrade parts, receiving the unit, unpacking it, inspecting it, disassembly, testing, reassembly, listening to it, re-packaging for shipping).

In the case of upgrades, the setup fee is normally included in the price of a unit's basic upgrade (the first upgrade listed on the product upgrade page).

Easier units to get into have a lower setup fee than the more difficult ones.

Rather than raise prices across the board to cover the more difficult ones, which would penalize owners of the easier units, I've broken down the models into easy, moderate, and difficult ones,  and have priced them accordingly.