I don’t know whether or not it is viable but they could sell in direct, increasing their profit and decreasing the price for the customer…
Like Tesla in a way…
Forgive me for being a bit pedantic but do you you mean sell in or selling? The former usually means the transaction between distributor and retailer rather than direct to customer.
Of course dCs did indeed handle their own distribution in the UK until a few years ago and, AFAIK, and still do in the USA via dCS Americas.
Direct selling to customers is really only possible in the manufacturer’s home country for all sorts of reasons. So, for example, I understand that PS Audio is now sold direct in the USA but remains with independent distributors elsewhere. Of course, like dCS, a subsidiary company could be set up in each territory of sale but , broadly, the cost of this absorbs the savings. Tesla does this in the UK with the attendant cost of running dedicated stores ( 27 of them). Further equipment in the price bracket of dCS is not likely to be sold without demonstration and that adds another complexity to direct sale to consumer.
Still, maybe something along those lines could be attempted?
dCS could sell direct, but I don’t believe it would be worth their while. It opens a lot of other issues. And if they reduced their prices they would anger their dealers.
Tesla is a different model. Yes, they sell direct online (I bought one–easiest car purchase ever!), but as Pete says there’s a lot of local infrastructure to support the brand.
But it can be done. I recently ordered two components direct from manufacturers internationally. A pair of Meze Elite headphones from Romania, shipped via DHL and here in the US within just a few days. And an Enleum AMP-23r, built in South Korea, but they do have a partner in the US that serves as a sort of hub through which their amps are shipping within the us (I believe the partner is actually one of the product designers and owners).
I will say this though: I would like the option to buy most any audio component online without having to visit a dealer. I basically did this with my Bartok, but through email and a phone call to the local dealer. When it arrived they called and I picked it up.
Maybe dCS should start thinking outside the box by reducing the number of “boxes” required for a full set-up. The “rumors” are the next iteration will be four boxes sans transport. There are other manufacturers who are grouped in the same high end sandbox as dCS where you can get by with just DAC and Clock or DAC and power supply. I am sure dCS believes that it is necessary to obtain the best SQ, but then other world class suppliers will provide reasons why it is not necessary. Sure would save on the BOM and the end users power cord expenses.
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Yes, I am in favour of this. It is not just the additional cost of the number of chassis involved on the current top-of-line structure but he amount of racking space it takes up.
Of course Vivaldi is now 9 years old and the architecture reflects its predecessors Elgar and Scarlatti. I hope that further technical developments might allow for some reduction in size. No doubt we shall see in due course.
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It looks like the new upgraded series of dCS equipment has the suffix Apex:
new analog section…
for Rossini, that means +9000Euro price increase?
Hold everyone, are we getting ahead of ourselves here? The description on the Swiss website of the “Vivaldi Apex” is, I think, entirely the same as the one on the dCS website, which has been there for years of course. So what is new, apart from the word “Apex”? (I can’t really comment on the price, except to say that higher Swiss prices - compared to the UK - aren’t a surprise.) Are forum members really sure this is a new/revised product?
I am not sure, but in the other quoted thread there is mention of a Rossini Apex, and then I found a Vivaldi Apex. Coincidence? I have never come across the suffix Apex (with a capital) in a mention of dCS equipment. Time will tell, soon I guess.
Yes, and I feel a strange combination of excitement and resignation.
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I do hope this Apex is not a mistake of the Swiss webmaster of this web site.
Actually I do prefer an upgrade of this beautiful Vivaldi industrial design rather than new products following new products etc…Reusing, upgrading, that is the 21 century 
Maybe “Apex” is some sort of Swiss euphemism for “2.0”? 
Dealers in Japan have announced new prices from Feb.1st.
Bartok will be the same price with the current Rossini’s!! Then Rossini will approach to Vivaldi’s!!!
dcs_20220201_pricelist.pdf (410.2 KB)
wow…thanks Hiroshi- did this document describe what they changed inside the system?
No, they are explaining this price change mainly due to cost increases of manufacturing, materials and logistics.
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May be one day buying a dCS product is like buying a Rolex, you will have to stay on a waiting list for 2 years or more ! 
Most economic forecasters are estimating that the causes behind the factors driving these increases ( raw materials, chip shortage, shipping costs) will be resolved during 2023. However it is extremely difficult for manufacturers such as dCS to then reverse price increases as such a move undermines the investment made by their customers earlier which , in turn, can damage their reputation. Difficult decisions.
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They must believe there’s enough demand at the higher prices. The new Bartok price being the same price as a current Rossini, at least in Japan, is a big jump.
In USD that’s going from $17,250 to $26k. With headphone amp! That’s a 66% increase.
Can’t be right.
No it can’t. For Yen expressed in USD values Bartok + ( inc.headphone amp) in Japan increases from $25592 to $31839. That is circa 24%.
Of course you cannot apply increases found in other countries to your home country. The price may increase uniformly at the factory gate but is then distorted country to country as the local distributor sets his own margin thereon.