I am looking to upgrade my digital front end and bring it into the 21st century. I am considering one of two units, either the DCS Rossini Player or the Aurender A30 Player. The rest of the system consists of a VAC Master Pre-amp, a pair of VAC Signature 200iQ amps, Verity Otello speakers and Nordost cabling. I realize there is about a $10,000.00 difference in the retail price of the two units. Does anyone have any experience with these two units and would be willing to share their thoughts.
Thank you,
Rufus
I'd do the following combo. IMHO, of course, but I am sure in it, I'd do it even if it were more expensive than the choices above.
It will give a much better DAC and a much better transport or server in this case. It gets better as a combo. And it's cheaper even with 2 extra cables needed. And incomparably more flexible as I could upgrade any of its elements later if I wanted to.
- Antipodes Audio EX server - renderer - with user installable SSD memory,
- Lampizator Amber 3,
- a good USB cable and a good (extra) power cable.
If you really need a ripper, you add the Antipodes P1 module which serves as a high quality ripper and a vibration tool if placed beneath the EX server.
If you run large Roon library and / or use upsampling (not needed for sound quality in many users' opinion), then a more powerful Antipodes CX is the choice. CX can also have 2x SSDs vs. 1x SSD in EX, so double the memory if that's important.
If you really want to upgrade, then here's the path in terms of priority and impact on the sound quality:
- Lampizator Atlantic TRP instead of Amber 3,
- Antipodes Audio CX + EX instead of EX,
- better USB and power cables,
- best tubes for Lampizator TRP, which is super easy too.
And you can tune the system's sound to your room and preferences with tubes on Lampizator DAC, super rare and super useful feature. And you have an easy to use interface, software flexibility (all possible players) and proper user support with Antipodes servers - very important in real life.
