I’m hoping dCS submits a Vivaldi Apex stack to Stereophile for a follow-up review. It’ll be interesting to see the measurements after just over 8 years exactly. Especially since Stereophile didn’t do a 2.0 update, Apex should be a big leap forward 
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The post near the top shows something like a 10k price i crease going to the APEX version 
My dealer just informed me that the hardware upgrades to Apex become available from May, 2022.
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I’m guessing dCS will discontinue the non-Apex versions of Vivaldi and Rossini. If this is the case and if the Apex SQ improvement is substantial, I expect dCS to experience healthy Apex upgrade revenue for the first few months from many of us. It’ll be interesting to see if sales to new dCS owners are as healthy since the price increase puts the Rossini and Vivaldi in rarified air.
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More news (but not yet verified): the upgrades to Apex will be done by the local distributors. So the units do not have to go back to dCS/ UK.
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Not necessarily a good news if confirmed…I would prefer my Dac upgraded by dCS themselves…and tested by dCS themselves…
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I think offering both Apex and non-Apex versions of the same DAC would only serve to blur the distinction of each product tier that has been so well established. Most frustrating I think for those who recently upgraded from Bartok and are now faced with another costly decision. As a Bartok owner I love the upgradability for the higher tiers but am content to wait on a V2 software release for Bartok (hopefully) or eventually sell and move on to try other DACs. There are many options and sounds worth exploring for the price of an Apex
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Based on my discussions with people in the know (I will leave it at that), and my own personal experience with 3 Linn Klimax DS upgrades, there is absolutely nothing to worry about relative to who or where the upgrade is performed.
If the APEX is anything like the Linn upgrades a ribbon connector cable is removed from the circuit board, the entire board is removed, and a new replacement board is screwed in place.
I have watched my Linn upgraded multiple times. So easy a baby can do it.
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Well, I am hoping the upgrades will make the Rossini sound like the Vivaldi, and the Vivaldi into something even more incredible.
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As far as I know (had some discussion with “people in the know”) the upgrade is simply a board switch - and indeed it is the same board for Rossini and Vivaldi. I would not be terribly concerned with the expertise of who is doing it as long as they are authorized by dCS.
The price of the upgrade is the same for Rossini and Vivaldi: $9,000.
Question remains as to what the impact is on the sound…
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Well, if a baby can perform a 9000$ upgrade, it will give rise to vocations 
I confirm. My seller tells me that he can do the update at the store.
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I am fairly confident dCS would not foist a $9000 upgrade upon us if it did not do what it says on the tin. I am anticipating a significant upgrade in line with the improvements past dCS updates have rendered.
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I’m with you Anup. This would be an excellent follow-on/up. That the stack remains so musically competitive in a digital age is already impressive enough. But if Apex fulfills what appears to be a very intriguing promise, this could be quite the achievement.
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Fine if you are in the UK - but after Brexit I would not want my unit cross the North Sea twice!
Before Brexit: transit times UK-NL, 1 day, perhaps 2.
After Brexit: same transit, easily a few weeks, even as much as 6 weeks.
No thank you, I’ll put my trust in the local distributor. These aren’t Swiss watches by a country mile.
This would be an upgrade done in the US (namely, USD9,000)?
Yes. You ship the unit to the Boston service center / dealer, they will change the board & back plate (which will indicate **** Apex) and ship it back to you.
Just put my deposit down with my dealer to get in queue. He confirmed shipment back to US East Coast will be required for the board upgrade.
Great Greg, early adopter! Or maybe even innovator 
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