I believe I already stated that I haven't heard the Vivaldi and therefore reserve my opinion on the sound of that particular piece(s). Having heard most other DCS converters though, I would be surprised if it doesn't have a familiar sound...all the other ones did. Based on my experience to date, which is not insubstantial, I will have to disagree with any assessment of DCS that refers to it as musical.
Obviously you didn't reserve your opinion on the Rossini which you haven't heard.
I am pretty familiar with how your system will likely sound, having had three pairs of Ref 3as (both with and without Be tweeters) and having had a good push pull DHT amp (VAC 30/30) to drive them at one point. Its a good sound
Great that you like those speakers.
and one that I left only when I found horns that delivered simply more but without sacrificing the transparency and low coloration I need (being an electrostat owner for 15 years will sour you on most sounds). Where we diverge is primarily with the DAC. I find nearly all SS dacs borderline unlistenable after a very short time due to what I hear as artifacts that create a synthetic sound. I have heard most of the so-called "top of the top" DACs and I am not impressed and find that a lot of older "top of the top" DACs from the 90s actually deliver more musical sound. Some are just as resolving...its like the high end got amnesia about what kind of digital sound was REALLY available before companies dropped the expensive R2R chips to save money.
Who can judge my DAC better? You or people who have heard my system? If people are interested what people who actually have heard my system think of it they can read my system thread (link at the bottom of post). Last page for most recent impressions.
For sure if a system sounds great everything must be doing a good job but that doesn't mean you cannot hear what the system is doing wrong and what is the likely culprit. Separating out the room is not as challenging as you might think...and rooms do not create the same kinds of sonic signatures that electronics do...
That is only partially true. Many of the artifacts that I had previously ascribed to my digital at the time (Wadia 8/12), a strident, homogenizing, flat sound, were the culprit of my room; those problems were greatly ameliorated by acoustic treatment (ASC). A further lessening of what I had perceived as being remaining digital artifacts (with then the Berkeley) was achieved by inserting external power supplies for my amps. Thus, only in the second case it was electronics, and even then still not the digital component itself. And further, exchanging my Ensemble Reference speakers for the Ref 3A monitors made me again rethink my digital and conclude that it is much better than I had given it credit for. Talking about synthetic sound: some other remaining issues in that vein were solved by exchanging my interconnect for DaveC's ZenWave Audio D4 interconnect. Also here the culprit was not the digital, but something else (just in case you are wondering by now, no, I don't think my digital is perfect).
All those experiences have led me to be extremely skeptical of claims like yours, that you can readily separate out the room from the system itself, and that you can point out which component within the system is the likely culprit for artifacts.
When I comment on shows, I usually only name the ones I thought sounded best and why. Most sound like crap at shows for one reason or another (my own opinion is that most gear is overpriced crap)
I agree with you on your opinion that most expensive gear is (often way) overpriced.
so I tend to just praise the ones I thought worked best.
Good. I had forgotten one probably important, or perhaps in a number of cases even overriding, reason for bad sound at shows: the supply of electricity in those hotel rooms or industrial venues. An amp, especially a high-power one, that otherwise would be excellent but does not get good and unrestricted power may very well sound thin and with lousy treble, or compressed dynamics etc.