Has anyboby compared a Lina and clock with a Rosinni Apex?
No need to compare if you are thinking of choosing one over the other. Excellent as Lina is it does not have the Apex upgrade to DAC and output stages. Apex is ( you can read user reports in the archives here) a major upgrade. Even three years later I can recalll the wow factor when I upgraded my Vivaldi ( Apex upgrade is the same for all units having it).
Adding the Lina clock would not alter the superiority of Rossini Apex IMO.
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Would you say the same for the Bartok with Apex upgade?
Rossini Apex has sonic advantages over Bartok Apex and Bartok Apex over Lina. dCS has always sold by demonstration so that means customers need to be able to hear the difference. Every line is superior to the next one down in the hierarchy. As you will see if you read posts from people changing up.
So an individual’s limit is likely to be financial and/or space availability. So no Varese for me 
.
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Thanks for that. Guess I kinda knew the answer really, just had a faint hope that someone would say, “hell yes the Lina gives 99% of what the Rossini does, save yourself some money”. Sadly not the case.
I agree with all of Pete’s points above.
My own experience from conducting countless range progression demos is that:
- People’s sensitivity to the effects of a master clock seems to vary widely. Some regard it as essential (we have a raft of customers using Vivaldi Clocks with Rossinis and even Bartóks for instance) whereas at the other extreme some don’t think a master clock is worth the cost at all. My own personal take FWIW is that it is ”subtle but addictive”. I recommend listening (ideally a home demo over the course of a week-or-so) to find out which camp you are in.
- Lina < BartĂłk Apex < Rossini Apex < Vivaldi Apex. Clear improvements as you move up the DAC range which everyone hears.
- Lina Clock < Rossini Clock < Vivaldi Clock. Any of the clocks will make a positive improvement to any of the DACs. But the magnitude of the improvement increases as you go up the clock range. Be aware however that the different clock models have different numbers of clock outs so make sure you have taken account of your use cases (streaming only? dCS Transport? 3rd party server with word clock input?) when choosing.
- DAC with Clock vs superior DAC without clock (maybe for a similar total cost). This is a more difficult one to call due to the first point above. However faced with this choice my default recommendation would be to go with the better DAC. I think the majority of listeners (but not all!) would say this brings the greater improvement and you can always add a clock down the line.
These are just general observations based on my experience, hopefully they will help you orient yourself in the various choices. However YMMV! We all have different priorities and preferences so there are no universal truths here and no amount of advice is worth more than your own impressions.
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Thanks for all you help and advice. I’m on the hunt now for a used Rossini Apex. Hopefully add a clock later.
Here is one for €17.900,- with a Rossini Masterclock €3250,-
Masteclock new price on that page is indicated as 7250eur? Is that right? Price in Switzerland is way higher, and we have a much lower VAT! But every shop around is requiring much more than that for a new unit. There’s clearly something wrong there.
Price for the new Rossini seems about right.
Newprice in the netherlands is €12.000…
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If not for aesthetics reasons (it’s black, while my Vivaldi One is silver) I’d be seriously tempted, that looks like a very interesing price if the unit in still in a good shape.
IMHO and experience this dealer is highly reliable.
BTW: he also offers dCS Vivaldi Apex €25.500,- (the Vivaldi Masterclock €9.500,- and dCS Networkbridge €2.250,- were sold within two days…)
Too bad I missed the clock then. Was it even silver maybe? I guess it was, as the Vivaldi itself is. :{
Silver indeed
Found a Rossininon Apex but at a price that will allow for the upgrade. Very Happy!
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Should read “non- Apex
Just go for the Apex upgrade, you wan’t regret!
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That’s my plan. Next question, pre amp or direct to amps? I have a PSAudio BHK pre and I’m strictly single source.
There is no real answer to this . Although direct connection offers the least compromise ( at least on paper), there is no point if you do not enjoy the result. Equally there is no point in using a preamp if you don’t like what you hear.
You say that you already gave a preamp which suggests that you also have a power amp. So just try and decide which you prefer.
Well put Pete. A preamp will definitely do something to the sound, no preamp will definitely do nothing to the sound. If you prefer the sound of the something you will prefer the sound with the preamp, if not you will probably prefer the sound without.
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