That is a very interesting perspective and as for your point 2 inconsistent with any comments I have heard from anyone I have been in contact with at Paragon. No one that I have spoken to at Paragon has indicated that the Varese is close to a Vivaldi stack let alone a Linn Klimax unit.Paragon Sight and Sound in Ann Arbor MI has the Varese system set up (with about 150 hours on it). I stopped in for something else but they had me listen to it. I only had about 20 minutes and it wasn’t a serious audition for me. But I listened closely to a few of my favorite tracks. Nevertheless, please take with a grain of salt my observations:
1) are we really now needing 5 huge boxes stacked on another rack at eye level height to get the job done? And I thought the Vivaldi stack was big. I understand most people at this level have a dedicated room. I don’t and have to live with gear. Regardless of the result, it seems like part of the goal was just making it big and impressive.
2) Case in point - the sales person acknowledged how good the Linn Klimax DS 3 is in one box. Not at the same level, but close - and in one elegant box. On that front - well done Linn.
3) They had the same model SF speakers I own hooked up (with XVXs waiting to be reconnected), and driven by D’Agostino Momentum (I think) monos and preamp. I thought the sound a just a bit bright and dry which surprised me. Again - not a fully broken in Varese. Tons of detail and it was an open wide soundstage.
Just my $.02 after a quick listen. Others will certainly disagree but I came away thinking it still has the DCS house sound. At this level - should it? Maybe that goes away with more break in. And, maybe that’s the very best digital can be. If so, then I prefer the slightly different presentation of other reference sources I’ve heard.
Best,
I can understand that not everyone may not like what you describe as the dCS house sound. Fair enough. There is other digital that I could live with and others that do not get me to what I want to hear. I hope you had the opportunity to go back and forth between the Vivaldi and Varese units. When I did, they surely didn’t sound similar at all.