Bartok Apex Upgrade

Support
204

My unit is from late January 2022 so just over 1 year old.

205

Greetings,

I’m considering purchasing a used Bartok and was wondering if anyone knew if I would be able to upgrade it to the Bartok Apex as a used dCS owner.

Thanks in advance,
Vince

206

I don’t see why not. It’s not a free upgrade ))

207

I sent a message to dCS via their website. I’ll post back the response.

208

Welcome! I’m sure you’ll be fine. Owners of ‘used’ definitely aren’t second class citizens. Perhaps dCS will give you an indication of the waiting time.

1 Like
209

Thanks!, I appreciate it.

210

I’ve heard good news from our closest dealer. Used Bartok’s can be upgraded for $9K. Like the prior Apex upgrades there’s a waiting list to minimize turn-around.

211

Used Bartok + $9K Apex upgrade, are you still below the price of a brand new Bartok Apex ?

212

No, HKD60k regardless of age.

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213

Yes, I would be.

214

:+1: that’s great

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215

Not in my case. My Bartok w/ HA is almost 3 years old, so it listed at $15K USD when I bought it. The APEX upgrade for units bought over two years ago is priced at $9K, so that adds-up to $24K, which is a thousand bucks more than a brand new equivalent Bartok with a three year warranty, which makes no sense. I won’t be upgrading mine at that price, it doesn’t add-up to me. Recent Bartok buyers get it at $4,500, and those who bought at 2 years or under get it for $5,900. I would pay $4,500 or $5,900, but not $9,000 (plus 7.75% tax on the purchase amount).

216

Is this two/three tiered pricing actually confirmed?
In HK and Europe it seems to be one price only, wether it’s more or less than two years.
I think this tiered pricing is illogical and just great at upsetting people.
I also think the 9900 euros upgrade price in Europe doesn’t make any sense.

1 Like
217

I didn’t think about tax for most people. That does add up quickly. At that rate you are into the cost another $697.50. Living in Oregon, it didn’t occur to me.

The dealer in Seattle I have been in contact with also let me know that new orders for Apex upgrades are currently scheduled to ship sometime in April.

218

I got an email from my dealer yesterday saying that he had more info from dCS. I only get the $6100 CDN price if I order before March 7th. After that the price is $7900 and then $12500 when my unit is 2 years old.
All prices have an additional $700 for shipping and handling also 12% tax.

1 Like
219

So now there are 3 tiers of Bartok upgrade pricing?! Oh my. Why not keep it simple and have only one price?! You own a Bartok and you would like to upgrade to APEX, here’s the price.

This does not leave a good impression of the dCS brand because it smacks of nothing more than trying to recapture the price increases from past customers. Each tier is getting the exact same upgrade, yet some pay more than others for it. As if they value some customers more than others. And as is pointed out, you may end up paying more than the cost of a new retail unit with warranty. At the very least, in good faith, they could renew the warranty.

In my case, the Bartok APEX upgrade would start to approach $11k, with the cost of the upgrade, shipping and taxes. It’s as if this pricing is intended to strongly discourage you from doing the upgrade.

I’m sure we would all understand if there were incremental improvements over time, and for $9,000 you’re not only getting APEX but all of the other improvements too. But so far all we know is that you pay more for APEX the longer ago you purchased one. Same device, same upgrade, 3 prices.

Is there a precedent for this kind of pricing structure in the the audio world?

2 Likes
220

The 3-tier pricing was confirmed to me from my local authorized DCS dealer via email. They indicated the Bartok APEX upgrade program pricing came directly from dCS, they were awaiting the details and thus got them to me on 2/10/23. The dealer indicated the $4,500 offer is short-termed. They did not indicate how long the $4,500 price offer stands, and I didn’t inquire as it doesn’t apply to me. I assume these Bartok APEX program elements apply to the entire US.

221

Is the Vivaldi Apex upgrade still available?

222

Completely agree—this program does not seem to be very well thought out, particularly from the all-important customer perspective. Seems they missed several important considerations:

  1. Customers that bought over 2 years ago are paying what seems like a significant penalty. Inflation being what is has been over the past 2 years means that dollar values in this case are certainly not apples-to-apples. Here in the US, a given dollar amount two years ago was worth somewhere in the range of 15% - 25% more than it is today.

  2. The cost to dCS to manufacture, ship and install the APEX board is what it is, so they are not covering cost or margin considerations by charging more for one set of customers versus another.

  3. It seems they haven’t considered fully elasticity—for example, I would pay the $5,900 price, but I’m highly unlikely to pay the $9,000 price. Given some of the posts from others here who have similar views, dCS may well wind-up with less total Bartok upgrade profitability due to the pricing tiers they have instituted. I would have paid the $5,900 and they would have me locked-in as a customer for some fairly extended time. Now, I will begin to investigate alternative options that may see me leave dCS, perhaps never to return (I also own a Rossini Clock, which like my Bartok w/HA was purchased new from my local dCS dealer. Beyond that, I also previously purchased a new Puccini Player and U-Clock from authorized dCS dealers, and same for a P 8i player. So I have been a dCS owner now for over 15 consecutive years. dCS risk losing me as a customer that has been very loyal over this).

4 Likes
223

You make a very compelling argument. It’s starting to sound like dCS is willing to lose customers, perhaps for life, over $3100. That seems shortsighted.

I imagine there’s more then one dCS employee lurking on the forum. I hope they are paying attention.

1 Like