Agree with others and caveat it with buy a non-Apex Rossini DAC now for around $12K USD and when funds are available do the APEX upgrade. The APEX upgrade won’t be a legacy item anytime soon and BTW, the Vivaldi/Rossini/Bartok lines aren’t going nonexistent as dinosaurs. dCS plans to continue making those boxes and as they do further market analysis on Varese; there is potential for Varese trickle down technology into the V/R/B line-ups.
One concern is finding a Rossini APEX DAC – it’s rather new product and not many on the used market (as yet). Go small and add later is my recommendation.
I think I agree with Robert. In addition to the fact that the Apex upgrade is a larger fraction of the Bartok non-Apex price than that of Rossini or Vivaldi it seems to be a common opinion that the effect of the upgrade is actually greater the higher one goes up the range. I have heard Bartok Apex vs non-Apex side by side at a dealer, using headphones. I’m an experienced headphone listener although the ones in use (Focal Utopia) I was not familiar with. With that caveat, I can confirm I could hear the Apex improvement on the Bartok - and the dealer didn’t tell me which machine was which - but it really isn’t as great as is delivered by adding Apex to Vivaldi. There the change is quite striking. I can’t comment on Rossini from my own experience.
Just out of interest is that Bartok Apex or not? If not that strikes me as expensive. Not that I am in the market.Perhaps more importantly my anti-virus software is blocking pinknoise as a security risk. I also note from the link that it is listed in a “bonnes-affairs” area. That means “bargains”, not a phase normally associated with dCS or other high-end audio brands.
I hope that I am not being obvious but have you checked with your Rossini dealer what he will offer in part-exchange for the Bartok? Although in theory it may be less than a private sale ( as VAT may be involved when he resells it) it will still be more than you have been getting over the past year which is €0.
No idea. Pink Noise is a well known and serious hi if shop in Brussels. Bonnes Affaires, means second hand and bargain also. Anyway, the owner of that shop is a really competent hifi seller.
But I did not visit his shop for a long time and therefore I haven’t got any information about the story of this Bartok.
Hi Pete, The warnings relate to PinkNoise’s internet hosting provider’s security (TLS) certificate whose registered name differs from the actual name being supplied.
Could absolutely be a sign of something nefarious but also just the result of an administrative error.
Anyway the listing on the website doesn’t claim that it is an APEX unit (and a reputable seller would presumably know that this was important information) so it is probably safe to assume it isn’t.
Thanks @ChrisK, that is really useful extra information Nevertheless viewed from across the channel it remains very costly. Several Bartoks are on sale used for around £8K or €9.5K. That includes VAT and they come from dCS dealers which alone has advantages. Still admittedly it is difficult to easily compare international prices. Travel from Belgium to buy here could demonstrate value but as VAT refunds to non-UK residents are no longer available, for EU citizens there is a risk of paying double VAT
When you do get it back remember to give it a fair amount of playing time before making any judgements. Maybe 100 hours. But I am sure that you are already aware of this.
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