dCS Varese short review

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike what a gorgeous system.

thank you, like yours too.

I got to go but I will spend a great deal of my time admiring it and I may have some questions. I would enjoy discussing systems with you, but you are frankly out of my league.

anytime. PM me and we can share phone numbers. not a competition on systems or skating.

But I'll bet I'm the better roller skater.

 

[microstrip]

Mike, it's really good to make your acquaintance. I'm not saying that a six box DAC is necessarily unreliable. I personally believe that it is and I base this on my 60 plus years of high-end experience. I'm not a novice. But let's just say that you are correct in your assertion that six boxes of electronics are as reliable as one box. It is inevitable that a malfunction will occur and when it does, suppose it is intermittent, and really weird. What do I do? I'm not talking about setup. I would expect my dealer to do this.

The six boxes would need be returned overseas for diagnosis.

I knock wood, but in nine years always powered-on my dCS Vivaldi only stayed away when they left for two weeks to get the Apex upgrade.
The fact that the people at dCS come from military aeronautics weighted my decision to get it.

The six boxes would need be returned overseas for diagnosis.

Probably your distributor technician could easily diagnose the faulty box. When buyers pay such high prices they deserve special service!

In the not too distant past my left 3500 went dead. It just turned off. I went through all kinds of diagnostics at home with the help of McIntosh. I returned the amp to McIntosh and the amp played perfectly. Stupidly, I removed all the tubes before my dealer picked the amp up. McIntosh played the amp for days. Ran all sorts of tests on it. They thought maybe I had jammed at tube. I know that I didn't.

This was before I became aware of Nashville Amplifier Service, and I have learned a great deal about tubes since then. Things break. They malfunction. They don't always operate as billed. I want simplicity, reliability/practicality, and superb sound.

Ok, we should respect your experience.

I believe these DAC's are over engineered and that diagnosing a weird problem could be quite difficult.

In fact you are now addressing digital electronics and solid state analog electronics - nothing to do with power tube tube gear.

People at dCS have long experience with remote upgrades - my upsampler got upgrades from time to time and I do not notice it. Mobile phones and computers do it regularly.

Many problems only become apparent after months to years after the unit is in operation. I recently had a meter go out on one of my 1.25KW's. It was fixed by NAS in one day after the meter arrived from McIntosh and back in my system within about 10 days. Things inevitably malfunction. The more complex the more likely they are to fail.

Electromechanical meters are really nice but have always been a source of problems.

Electronics failure rate depends essentially on design and built quality. Surely if living in a desert remote island I would prefer owning two Vivaldi's to a singe dCS Varese!

If I had a high-end system other than McIntosh, I would use a reasonably priced DAC, say an Aurender A30 possibly with a master clock but there are many other DAC's in the 50K or less price range to choose from. I'm just offering friendly criticism and my opinion. I don't debate in the slightest the superiority of the Varese sonically.

I can easily understand and accept your point - Nagra people in this forum do the same. There is some reassurance and added value when owning all equipment from the same brand.

 

[Charles S]

thank you, like yours too.

anytime. PM me and we can share phone numbers. not a competition on systems or skating.

Mike, I would love to PM you and share phone numbers. Where is the PM on WBF? I'm sure I am looking right at it. I will be admiring your system in detail. It will take more than a few hours. Well, there's little comparison in mine than yours. That's the thing I like best about WBF. It's the ultimate for amazing systems. I am extremely happy for you and i want to learn about every one of your components and gear, especially your speakers. But Ill be sending you my email and cell asap.

 

[Charles S]

Microstrip, you are a great guy. Everything you say is reasonable. I only put out this criticism of dCS to get a rebuttal of it. It really sounds like dCS is quite reliable based on the comments I have received, and I have made ML's acquaintance. What a system he has! You never know who you are going to meet on WBF.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike, I would love to PM you and share phone numbers. Where is the PM on WBF?

Charles,

1-look to the upper right side of the page. see the picture of the envelope next to your name. click on that.
2-a drop down opens, select 'open conversation' at the bottom of the drop-down.
3-go to the 'to' box and start typing my name.
4-need title and fill in the message and hit send.

 

[Charles S]

Got it and I had already found it. I am examining your system. I will be sending you my private information soon. And thank you for your interest. I see already that you are a Wadax aficionado. I'm a roller skater at heart. I like it loud and somewhat raunchy. My room can take a lot of sound. I have pool parties where folks do skating exhibitions on my pool deck and in my skating rink behind my sofa where my system is. But I use a cheap Sonos (1000 dollars) for music. I don't use my system except to demonstrate it at the parties. Music is in my bones. I skate with men and women of all races and ages, many with beautiful bodies/figures, and they can skate. I skate with many of them. The music is loud like a disco and there is always a DJ. The sound systems are extremely expensive and powerful, but mine will play as loud and of course is of significantly higher quality. I put my body on the line every time I skate. It's a very dangerous sport, but I'm one of the best skaters in America and I love it.

 

[microstrip]

That is incredible misleading and non factual. This is ONLY a part of setting up a pair of speakers and these settings must be changed every single time you move the speaker along with absolute leveling of the bottom cabinet, Just for starters. It is not easy , it may be easy to read the instruction manual however

Lee was was just addressing the "a lot of variables for you to futz " after speaker placement. Surely if one is unable to read charts and locate number in spikes it is hard job - the XVX had eight charts, you have to do it methodically - about an hour work for two people.

Wilson speakers are not harder to set than many others and some people do not do it using to the rigorous WASP method. I found the ESL63 are even more critical than Wilson's, but once you find the proper place the room also moves away. Poorly placed they sound really miserable.

BTW, proper use of measuring tools can't find the best listening position, but can speed a lot understanding the room. Just IMO, YMMV.

 

[Charles S]

I would love to comment as I have owned a Maxx3, Alexx, and now an XVX. But fellas, this is about the Varese, not Wilson speakers. Please keep focused on the Varese. If not, here we go again, totally off topic.

 

[caesar]

More emoji's required...

 

[caesar]

Have the cable companies (transparent, nordost, etc.,) stepped up to make some after market cables for the Varese yet?

 

[caesar]

..
I'm talking from business view of the industry...

Hi Stereophonic, can you please share the number of wadax units sold? an estimate is fine.

or are you just shooting the breeze?

 

[caesar]

Well, any one will agree with this!



Just to point that the XLF was only discontinued after 8 years, although it still went in production for two more years. I suggest you buy a calculator - any one can see you are making an intentional mistake in your calculus.

https://www.wilsonaudio.com/products/legacy

...

I am glad you like the wilson sound. I have different tastes and preferences - for me, they all sound the same: analytical and hifi, regardless of setup or complementary equipment.

they seem to be releasing new models faster than Moore's law; if Dell could only release their new models that fast...

If I never heard another wilson (or magico) for the rest of my life, I wouldn't miss it. I am in the majority with most of the world, outside of audiophilia, of course.

But I am glad triggers your imagination and brings you pleasure!

 

[Elliot G.]

Lee was was just addressing the "a lot of variables for you to futz " after speaker placement. Surely if one is unable to read charts and locate number in spikes it is hard job - the XVX had eight charts, you have to do it methodically - about an hour work for two people.

Wilson speakers are not harder to set than many others and some people do not do it using to the rigorous WASP method. I found the ESL63 are even more critical than Wilson's, but once you find the proper place the room also moves away. Poorly placed they sound really miserable.

BTW, proper use of measuring tools can't find the best listening position, but can speed a lot understanding the room. Just IMO, YMMV.

Sorry but I totally disagree and the proper position in the room is the whole point. That doesn't happen by reading a chart. Whether they are harder or easier is conjecture however those that I know and do it for a living would absolutely disagree with your opinion.

 

[Charles S]

My friend Elliott, what has your comment to do with the Varese? You are an industry expert, not a novice so I suppose you take license because of your highly respected position to go totally off topic. If you desire to discuss Wilson speakers, please begin a thread. Otherwise, it is clear that you are taking advantage of a very interesting thread on an amazing piece of gear, the Varese, to promote your beliefs concerning Wilson speakers.

 

[Elliot G.]

My friend Elliott, what has your comment to do with the Varese? You are an industry expert, not a novice so I suppose you take license because of your highly respected position to go totally off topic. If you desire to discuss Wilson speakers, please begin a thread. Otherwise, it is clear that you are taking advantage of a very interesting thread on an amazing piece of gear, the Varese, to promote your beliefs concerning Wilson speakers.

with all due respect Sir you don't get to tell others what they can and can't say. On another subject I did not bring up Wilson speakers in fact it might have been you along with other subjects.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Lee might have put Wilson back in the mix .

 

[Lee]

I thought dCS had a service center in the US; perhaps I am mis-remembering. Although I suspect that everything in any dCS box at this point is surface mounted which means there really isn't any diagnosis or repair in the classic sense. Problem = board swap.

Yes, Fuller in Boston did the Apex upgrades.

 

[Lee]

Lee might have put Wilson back in the mix .

Not as far as you know.

 

[thedudeabides]

My friend Elliott, what has your comment to do with the Varese?

What does your obsession with roller skating, your constant need to tell everyone how good you are at it, how excellent your system sounds and how much money you spend on your system have to do with the Varese? Modesty really is a "good thing". Something to consider.

I'm going to take a cold shower.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Yes, Fuller in Boston did the Apex upgrades.

I will hear your super duper DCS in munich if nothing strange happens