Hi all:
I have a dcs bartok non apex with a $5500 upgrade option. I have an opportunity to trade into a Rossini non-apex as well. It would be same cost of 5-6K or so.
Bartok apex or Rossini non-apex? I did listen to both but I can’t get enough time on them due to travel.
Paired with luxman 590x2 and Wilson Sabrina xstrong text
I have the Bartok and after a long time finally decided to upgrade to APEX (my upgrade cost double yours). It was worth it!
I just got back from two weeks of vacation and powered on the Bartok and was reminded just how amazing it is. I can’t speak to the Rossini, but if it were me I would go with APEX.
I have the Luxman 590AXII, went with Logans rather than your Wilsons, would have been happy with either but my Mrs preferred the Logans.
I bought a Bartok a few years ago, when the Apex upgrade for it was announced I arranged an extended home loan of a Bartok Apex and the managed to also get an original Rossini here too. I’d personally go for the Rossini as you can then go Apex later on, I didn’t think upgrading Bartok to Apex vs a used Rossini was a vfm choice. In the end I traded my Bartok for a brand new Rossini Apex as I felt the SQ improvement was worth the £.
I’ll be hearing the Vivaldi later this month, slippery slope this dCS business 
Gus, I’ll probably turn that slippery slope into a vertiginous one.
Remember that ,unlike Rossini, Vivaldi DAC is just that; it has no other functions. So if you upsample, listen to local file streaming or streaming services or otherwise use Mosaic you require Vivaldi DAC + Vivaldi Upsampler.
This is very much true, the streaming hardware is built-in to the Bartok and Rossini which is a great feature and saves money on cables as well as on hardware.
Some of us make do with a Vivaldi DAC with an alternative streaming solution, such as myself. I keep aspiring towards the Upsampler though somewhere in the future 
The dealer is loaning us the DAC + Upsampler, a mate is having a bake off.
Been musing about options with just the DAC fed from a NB, Roon Rock, Melco, Auralic or Lumin. Rossini Clock in the mix, out the mix.
Be great to actually head to head the Rossini vs Vivaldi and gauge what the gap in SQ is.
Hello dCS community. I do not yet own a dCS product so have joined to get more informed. My dealer is adamant that whenever I am ready to not be tempted to go Bartok non-Apex that I must go for the Apex model. My question is the title of this thread that I was hoping would have gotten a lot more attention and people’s impressions of Bartok Apex vs Rossini. I say ‘my dealer’ but he is 6 hours away and is simply the only dealer I have spoken with about dCS products so not practical for me to audition. I also doubt he has any non-Apex models in his store. I have been using the Aurender A20 for the past year. It is my first all-in-one. Prior to that I used a Node 2i with a variety of different DACs.
Hi and welcome to the community. I would suggest that you take a little time reading the current threads and using the archives ( search field is above) and read the numerous comments of pre and post Apex for all of the various full sized models. Apex is the same whether you go for Bartok, Rossini or Vivaldi. It was originally part of the development of the new Varese .
As you are talking about using a dealer then I assume that you are wanting to buy a new unit. If so there is no such thing as a new non-Apex Bartok. The earlier model was replaced by Bartok Apex a couple of years ago. So a non-Apex Bartok will be a used or ex-dem model. However most demonstration units were upgraded to Apex anyway. Rossini is the same. For new units there are only now Rossini Apex. There is a link below to the dCS home page where you can see the current range.
Unlike mass market manufacturers, dCS has no production lines nor are there warehouses holding stocks of unsold units. Each unit is built to order and a waiting period after an order tis palced herefore should be expected.
Apex added a significant improvement, both measured and subjective. You will find numerous user experiences confirming this.
That’s a couple of months ago. What was the outcome?
I can attest to that (for my Rossini)…
A bakeoff really isn’t the best environment to assess kit, multiple bodies, unfamiliar music, all I was after was a flavour of the Vivaldi vs Rossini to see if I would be wasting the dealers time organising a home demo or if I was serious about the upgrade right now. In the end I didn’t bother arranging a home demo, didn’t hear a big enough performance gap to spur me on.
I recently upgraded my Martin Logan 11a to 13a and a new TT arrived last week.
After I change amp I may revisit the Vivaldi and compare to the competition, that’ll be next year though.
Thanks Gus.
Enjoy your new analogue things .
I do love my records, nigh on 50 years of memories.
Delighted with the Rossini Apex + Clock - significant step up in SQ from the original Bartok. I was late to the dCS brand - 2021 and only got the Rossini in August 2023, happy to sit on it while I get the rest of the system up a level.
New TT is the Technics SL-1000R. Cart upgrade to match the deck next, using my old Cadenza Bronze and XX2Mk2 at present.
Demo’s arranged of Gryphon and Esoteric amps later this month.
Which models are you demoing?
Diablo 333 and Esoteric F-02 primarily.
Been demoing a while, the Luxman L-509z is currently our fave, bit surprising when a few amps we’ve ruled out are a lot more money.
I’ve read very positive reports about this.
I used to have a Diablo 300, but now have an Essence (Pre & Stereo amp), which I’m very happy with…
I haven’t heard this but, again, I’ve read favourable reports about it…
We were really impressed by it recently, went to hear McIntosh amps, the 509z was already setup, had a listen out of curiosity. Big wide soundstage and real punch, went straight on the shortlist for home demo. Weren’t that impressed with the Mc amps.
Dealer has a traded in 300 I can take home and get 100% £ back if I go for a 333 within a year - this may be the way we go if the 333 impresses, swap to it next April.
That seems to be a very tempting offer…
If I were you, I’d jump at the chance!
I’d be surprised if the 333 didn’t impress you…