dCS Varese short review

[Al M.]

Now imagine it without the typical boundaries of stereo - in some sense it seems the marionettes on stage have lost their wires. I was just listening to an old Hyperion CD favorite in streaming - the musicians were really enjoying!

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Music for Flute - Quinteto em Forma de Chôros / Modinha / Bachianas Brasileiras No. 6 / Distribution of Flowers / The Jet Whistle / Chôros No. 2 / Song of Love / Trio - William Bennett & Friends
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I guess I don't quite perceive stereo as the limitation that you make it out to be.

 

[Lee]

My system is a little higher end than yours and all the components have been chosen after careful A/B comparisons. It is generally revealing of all the various audiophile tweaks etc.. Earlier this year I did a shootout with 6 DACs, 5 owned and one borrowed. All of them were different but the differences were generally less than I think you would hear between other major components. And I am in complete agreement with @LL21 post in this thread that extends this argument to the ultra high end. https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/dcs-varese-short-review.39573/post-1072447

Having heard the dCS Varese there is no question in my mind that you would hear a significant difference if it were in either of our systems but it costs almost 2.5x the new value of my system and 4x the value of your system and I also have no question that the extra money would be better spent elsewhere.

Finally, if you haven't spent a lot of time and some money upgrading the power, cables, switches, clocks and sources that connect to your DAC you should do so. I found some of those changes to be as transformative as the difference between DACs and at a much lower cost.

And precision setup and grounding.

 

[still-one]

At its price, I was hoping it could match good vinyl. I heard and compared, whilst close, there is still a gap... But excellent nonetheless.

I could care less whether the Varese (or any DAC) it is better than, worse than or the same as vinyl. Life too short to live with the hassle and clutter of vinyl. My vinyl set-up is just a dust collector.

 

[microstrip]

And precision setup and grounding.

Surely good setup is always needed. Grounding is subject to debate.

 

[Lee]

I could care less whether the Varese (or any DAC) it is better than, worse than or the same as vinyl. Life too short to live with the hassle and clutter of vinyl. My vinyl set-up is just a dust collector.

You don’t know what you’re missing. Lol.

 

[still-one]

You don’t know what you’re missing. Lol.

I have ben in this hobby since the late 60's . I'm not missing anything.

 

[microstrip]

You don’t know what you’re missing. Lol.

The pops and clicks?

I must say that from an emotional point of view I miss the rituals associated with vinyl and the fun I had setting up vinyl gear and comparing it. Or refurbishing and setting up an A80 - more than 20 bearings to sort for performance and replace before carrying the critical work!

 

[spiritofmusic]

Would love to hear any streaming that fully engages me. Plenty of CD replay does, and a couple of instances of streaming from a few years back.
Have heard servers using HQ Player with custom code, and a fully optimised Taiko Extreme.
But my attention either wanders, or is drawn to aspects of music making, effectively both breaking the spell.
As usual IMHO, YMMV, terms and conditions apply.