dCS Varese short review
- Thread starter craigr
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when all is said and done, my guess is that Wadax the company is not unhappy about the $600k characterization. it does get people's attention. the Wadax rep said that to Ron for a reason. someone has to be the leader, and price is one aspect of that. we live in a time when that has cachet.....forum decorum be damned. that $600k perspective makes their new 'Studio' line up look pretty good too.
yet for us product owners and forum members, we are sensitive to being viewed as front runners, posers, and not seeking just performance. the $600k tag attached to our purchases causes us to shrink back and get defensive. we have rationalized our purchases and want respect and understanding. we say hold on there, that's not quite right.
Wadax Reference performance starts at $170k or so for the dac with 2 power supplies (Level One) or the Reference Server as a stand alone server (around $70k)...and goes from there. it's not all or nothing. that is the true story.
an interesting situation.
yet for us product owners and forum members, we are sensitive to being viewed as front runners, posers, and not seeking just performance. the $600k tag attached to our purchases causes us to shrink back and get defensive. we have rationalized our purchases and want respect and understanding. we say hold on there, that's not quite right.
Wadax Reference performance starts at $170k or so for the dac with 2 power supplies (Level One) or the Reference Server as a stand alone server (around $70k)...and goes from there. it's not all or nothing. that is the true story.
an interesting situation.
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IMO vegetarians writing about steak restaurants will always trigger extreme comments. Particularly when addressing Michelin starred restaurants.
I would ask why you raised the question and fight about prices on the dCS Varese thread, but never on the also popular and long lasting Taiko or Wadax threads.
IMO wrong - the subjective sonic differences between DACs are of fundamental nature and easily discernible in an adequate system if you manage to forget focusing on the missing vinyl artifacts . But as in anything related to high-end, it all depends on listener capability to appreciate them and using the proper recordings if needing to do it in a reasonable time in systems we are not familiar.
BTW, don't expect to listen to them in shows.
I enjoy reading about uber gear and why people purchase. The reason I still read WBF. For the time being anyway. But I guess my question to all of Ron's fanboys is this: does anyone really believe he intentionally provided misleading price information? If not, why all the angst and defensive posturing? He's human just like everyone else. And humans make unintentional mistakes. Just trying to understand. Best.
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no one is claiming he was intentional about not cleaning up his compare to like for like, just lazy and careless. especially that he was using price as his basis for compare. and all he needed to say was hey, you are right, i should have been more careful. but he just was in denial and that it was ok.
i did go back to read Ron's replies to see whether he did own up to missing on the details. i could not find where he did that specifically. he did agree with @Audiocrack 's post so maybe that got close.
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ML. I don't know what his motivations are. If you do please share. I do agree that when people make mistakes, intentional or otherwise, they should admit it and move on . Sadly, that's not the world we live in today and admitting fault is becoming rare. Why is this? A very complex topic.
did you read my response to you? i was clear about my view that Ron had no conscious intention or nefarious feelings to miss the like for like nuances of the price compare.
Your response just underscores your defensive nature / reaction regarding this incident and why he won't fess up to his misstatement. Now you are being agressive with me. Oh my. Please spare me your anger and indignation. Bye.
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Isn't this thread about the flagship DCS? Wouldn't that then merit calling out the flagship Wadax. Or the flagship Taiko/Lampizator setup.
If Ron were to call out the entry level $250,000 WADAX, he would then be comparing it to a $20k-$30K DCS. We would be talking lower than Vivaldi? Correct?
I don't see it as Ron's responsibility to In all of his post to call out the entire product line, price of each piece, just to make some point unrelated to the cost.
And I personally found it interesting to know the flagship WADAX is $600,000. And their entry is $250,000.
How much is the.flagship DCS with all the cables, bells and whistles?
If Ron were to call out the entry level $250,000 WADAX, he would then be comparing it to a $20k-$30K DCS. We would be talking lower than Vivaldi? Correct?
I don't see it as Ron's responsibility to In all of his post to call out the entire product line, price of each piece, just to make some point unrelated to the cost.
And I personally found it interesting to know the flagship WADAX is $600,000. And their entry is $250,000.
How much is the.flagship DCS with all the cables, bells and whistles?
Ron has not got a nefarious bone in his body, and all who know him personally and professionally will attest to that - enough said!
I am happy to say explicitly that I was not intending to make an unfair price comparison between LampizatOr Horizon360 + Taiko Olympus and the comparable set of Wadax components. I understand that the most expensive Wadax DAC + server does not cost $600,000.
My comment back to Brandon was that the Wadax Studio is a fantastic value.
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Just googled dcs varese price list .
https://www.paragonsns.com/products/dcs-varese-music-system?variant=41137884168255
Fortunately dCS policy on extreme transparency includes prices.
Ron brought the Wadax into this particular segment and back and forth of this thread.
no. entry level Wadax is $49k for the Studio Player.....including a transport and streamer and volume control.
but that is exactly what he did. make cost ( comparative price) the issue.
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Actually it's not "stupid" I did not claim you said that he was biased but one poster literally called him out as a Taiko shill. Please be more thoughtful in your responses to me. I have an open mind and am willing to listen to any reasonable criticism of me or my comments. It's fair to criticize Ron for not getting the number right.
Elliot G.
Industry Expert
wow we agree LOLIMO vegetarians writing about steak restaurants will always trigger extreme comments. Particularly when addressing Michelin starred restaurants.
I would ask why you raised the question and fight about prices on the dCS Varese thread, but never on the also popular and long lasting Taiko or Wadax threads.
IMO wrong - the subjective sonic differences between DACs are of fundamental nature and easily discernible in an adequate system if you manage to forget focusing on the missing vinyl artifacts . But as in anything related to high-end, it all depends on listener capability to appreciate them and using the proper recordings if needing to do it in a reasonable time in systems we are not familiar.
BTW, don't expect to listen to them in shows.
Elliot G.
Industry Expert
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