Some of the details of the new dCS price hike are becoming available here, no complete list yet.
First prices are the ones announced on 1st August, 2020. The second ones are the new ones:
Rossini Player: € 23.900 | € 25.900
Rossini DAC : € 20.900 | € 22.900
Rossini Clock : € 7.100 | € 8.900
Bartók DAC : € 13.500 | € 14.900
Bartók HDAC : € 16.500 | € 18.500
I find these increases extraordinary; up to 20% whilst UK inflation is under 3%.
However raw material prices are not necessarily included directly in the comparable basket of goods used the calculate the overall Consumer Price Index or Retail Price Index. However as there is much commonality to some of the parts used to construct dCS products e.g a billet of aluminium costs the same whether it ends up making a Vivaldi faceplate or several Bartok side panels, then I would have thought there would have been a more consistent increase and not one varying across the product catalogue from circa. 8% to 20% even when recognising that its price has increased by 37% over the past year ( and is this the main driver for the increases?). Currency variations also need to be accounted for but GBP v. Euro usually only move up or down by about 3%.
Of course dCS appear to have embarked upon some seemingly expensive marketing exercises over the past year and now have a new website design .
Is anyone outside of the Netherlands aware of similar price increases locally ? Or is this just the local distributor making an adjustment?
That makes the comparison 2020 / 2021 complete:
Bartók DAC : € 13.500 | € 14.900
Bartók HDAC : € 16.500 | € 18.500
Rossini Player: € 23.900 | € 25.900
Rossini Transport: € 19.900 | € 21.900
Rossini DAC : € 20.900 | € 22.900
Rossini Clock : € 7.100 | € 8.900
Vivaldi DAC: € 28.900 | € 30.900
Vivaldi Transport: € 34.500 | € 35.900
Vivaldi Clock: € 13.900 | € 15.500
Vivaldi Upsampler: € 19.500 | € 21.500
Universal Remote: € 795 | € 795
No price hike love for the remote! (Still glad I bought mine when I did.)
Ouch at these hikes otherwise. Understandable in one way, though — waiting lists/lead times for a great range of products may well mean that they’ve been leaving money on the table.
The Universal Plank was down at € 695 in 2018, and 2019 when I bought it, so if one would like to invest in a dozen now, next year you can cash on the second hand market, to compensate for 2022’s price hike.
Universal Plank 
I love how everything is English except for “CD Speler.” 
If you translate everything then you shall increase the price, the idea was to remain under 26.000 € 
Anyone have an idea of the new U.S. prices? I assume they went up here too.
I assume they will now be ‘live’ on retailers’ websites, because they have come into effect here (UK). I looked at the website of my local dealer, and one other: comparing to my notes of last year’s prices all the Vivaldi components have had £1000 added to them. (I couldn’t say anything about the Vivaldi One.) Also, the Rossini transport seems to be £1500 more than before. I haven’t checked the other Rossini boxes, or the Bartok.
Yikes.
My local dealer told me for Vivaldi:
DAC - $38,000
Upsampler - $24,500
Clock - $17,500
The Rossini clock seems to have gone up to £7999.00 from £6600.00 
.
Please remember that any increase imposed by dCS itself is multiplied by how it affects distributors’ and retailers’ margins and local taxes. The rule of thumb is that the factory gate price increases fivefold by the time it gets to you. So dCS add 200 currency units but you pay 1000.
There was a £600 price increase for the Rossini clock last July and now a £1400 increase this year! I’m not saying that a price increase is not warranted (due to the world situation) but some people may think that this is excessive.
This is totally ludicrous, a dcs dealer just told me today that in February 2022 they’re going to revise the electronics inside the dacs and the Rossini will now be at almost $34,000. Yes I love my music, but I’m not going to feed into extortion. I’ll go with another brand when I’m ready to get a new DAC
Salman, hello and welcome to the community forum.
I understand your concern but it really is premature to be concerned about a rumour or speculation. Wait until you know from dCS exactly what, if anything, is going to happen. In case you have not noticed there is a world shortage in microchips and other resources. This is seriously affecting almost all industries. Prices have escalated significantly. If the forecast you have is in anyway correct the new price will be due to the world situation and prices and nothing to do with any form of rip-off.
You will find that all other brands will reflect similar if proportional price increases over the next months.
Spot on Pete. In fact, Xilinx, the main FPGA supplier to dCS platforms, announced a 20% increase for their chips effective 1st November 2021.
When you couple that with manufacturers hoarding a year’s worth of supply or more of these chips, that price increase accumulates across the entire supply chain. Plus, there are massive shipping costs increase world wide.
So, a net increase of 30% for boutique electronics like dCS is completely within the realm of possible.
I know, the situation is absolutely ridiculous, but is unlikely to change until new silicon foundries’s come online at the end of ’22/early ’23, if that.
Agree with the commentary above. The only problem is, here in the States, these price increases have started to take their toll on retail sales and consumer spending. December numbers showed a DECREASE in sales indicating purchasers are starting to tighten their wallets in light of increased prices. Even the affluent will reach a point where they will start to forgo purchases - not necessarily as a metric of affordability but rather on principal. In addition to high end stereo equipment (which dCS definitely is a part of) my other vice is high end designer clothing. I am starting to get disgusted with the price increases strictly as a matter of principal and not my ability to pay. At a certain price point a divorce starts to take place between the asking price and inherent value of a product.
dCS is not alone. There was a MASSIVE thread on the Naim forum responding to the new round of price increases. Quite a number of long time members indicated their intention to begin looking outside the brand.
Just my 2 cents on the matter.
No I’m sorry I don’t agree. There have been two massive price hikes of DCS products and I have compared them with other manufacturers and there’s a huge difference. The price performance ratio or the value of the product has gone down considerably as far as I’m concerned and I’ll be investing elsewhere
