Should be installed next week. Didn’t have an opportunity to audition but I’m optimistic it’ll provide a worthwhile upgrade.
Unfortunately my rack won’t accommodate an additional shelf. As a result I’ll be forced to stack the clock. Most pictures I’ve seen have the dac on top of the clock. That looks better but is it the better choice for sq? Maybe it doesn’t matter. Looks like the distance between the pcbs in the two components would be greater with the clock on top.
As a Naim owner, I’ve been subjected to 100’s of stacking order threads. To my credit, this is the first stacking order thread I’ve ever started.
Congrats! I have a Rossini clock on order also, and expect to receive it soon.
The manual states that for best sound quality, the units should be placed on separate shelves,
But I wonder how much difference there is in the real world?
Congrats, and it is a worthwhile upgrade! Compared to Rossini, Bartók sounds skeletal, albeit still great. Rossini excels in bass, mids and spaciousness, dimensionality. Overall more musical.
Katzky, you will love it. Erno is absolutley right.
As for stacking if you want to experiment a little for free try inserting a few hardback books between the clock and DAC ( or vice versa ) just to see if you can hear a difference when the two boxes are further apart. If you can it might be worthwhile investigating some tallish footers as you cannot incorporate a shelf.
One tip, usually audiophiles would not consider so much the quality of the power cord connected to a Clock unit.
However Clocks are Very sensitive to power cord, in my experience. One of my most costly power cord is used on my Cybershaft 10MHz reference clock.
Give it a try with your coming Rossini clock. You could be surprised. Of course a Clock needs several hours to settle down completely. You cannot just A/B swap power cords every 5 min.
Leave the new power cord in place for some time then come back to the other one (or stock one) also for some time.
Agreed. After years of being sceptical about aftermarket power cables I found that a good cable for the clock made as much improvement to sound quality as one did with the DAC where I intuitively wrongly expected to find the only benefit.
So what’s an example of a good power cord? My local dealer offered to sell me a a Transparent Reference power cord at full MSRP But I’d need to act fast.
Ansuz Acoustics make power chords that might be worth a listen. Their approach is informed by their prior learnings at Nordost. My Vivaldis are connected to an Ansuz d-tc power distributor and that with a D2 cable to the wall socket. I might upgrade to all D2 chords maybe for Christmas Their approach worked well with Naim and it now works well with dCS. I’m a believer in cable and resonance control investments. The Ansuz people did a demo last year close to where I live. I was impressed. Maybe as a side blow they brought a Nordost Odin 2 power chord to compare. I liked the Odin better than the Ansuz cable they demoed it against first. But the second next level up was no question at all. Hands down Ansuz.
Their products deliver improvements up to a point. There’s an amount of their things that you can add to a system, whereafter it goes backwards. It’s a fun little exercise to find the sweet spot.
For power cables, borrow a few from your dealer. I was a huge skeptic about cables, in particular power cables. But I brought a few home to try and my non-audiophile wife could tell the differences blind, within a seconds. I’ve only tried Shunyata and Nordost, and both a big improvement over stock.
BTW, my Rossini clock was just built…hope to receive next week.
Katzky, the Transparent power cords complement dCS VERY well. I am using all Transparent Opus power cords on my Vivaldi stack. I might also add a Transparent clock cable is another worthwhile upgrade. These can be done now or later, however, you’ll notice it at this level of digital playback. Congratulations !
I am just raising an eyebrow over this ( UK prices):
dCS Rossini Clock £7999
Transparent Opus 2m power cord £ 7005
That just seems a little out of balance to me especially when we add in the 2 necessary clock cables if using Transparent Opus. I am probably correct in thinking that the wordclock cables are priced in the same bracket as the power cords. We are therefore talking over £21,000 to cable a £7,999 component . I am not saying that it wouldn’t be a good combination just that it is unusual to recommend a cable combination costing significantly more than the component that they serve.
My dealer is bringing a couple of Ultra\Reference power cords with the dac. Going to start with the cord provided by dCS for a baseline. After a week I’ll put in the transparent cords. Would be much easier if he brought an Opus to demo. At that price performance increase should be significant and immediate. Unfortunately they don’t have that level available for demo. They also know I’d never buy one so hopefully the Reference is significant and immediate.
It is always worth living with a new cable for at least a week, then return your old one and also live a little with it. Then draw conclusions whether it is worth it or not. The first wow effect is tricky.
I still have 3m Canare between my preamp and ATC actives. I took various expensive cables for tests, yes, there was an effect and I really wanted to spend money. But for various reasons, the purchase did not take place. And now I no longer remember what I heard then, now everything sounds quite good. Of course, I will eventually replace my Canare, but the essence I hope is clear.
Canare is the cheapest cable I have in the system (due to the required length of 3m), apart from Ethernet Belden CatSnake. Other cables cost a lot more, but of course none of them come close to the cost of any component in my system.
I have a reference also that I use to power some ancillary components. I am sure you’ll hear it. I thought Arzojaan’s comment to leave it in for a few days is smart. It it’s a brand new Transparent cord you may need 100+ hours on it to sound it’s best. Let us know you’re thoughts once you get a good listen…
PAR, the Transparent clock cables aren’t as expensive-so your math is off a bit. However your main point about Opus pricing in relation to dCS Rossini is fair. And I agree for a Rossini clock, I’m not suggesting an Opus cord, it’s just what I just use on my Vivaldi stack. My thread was backing up Katsky’s curiosity at trying a Transparent Reference level power cord on his dCS. I think he’ll like it, and it’s great he gets to try it first.
Today is the day for installation. Unfortunately I’ve misplaced my bnc cables. Going to wait a few days before I connect the clock. Will miss my bartok with headphones. Also I greatly prefer the case design of the Bartok. Wish they offered the other models in bartok style case.
Beauty is the eye of the beholder of course. Having components in both Rossini and Vivaldi cases I much prefer the pure lines of Vivaldi. Nice as the Rossini certainly is I do find the fluting at the top of the fascia rather fussy.
) just to see if you can hear a difference when the two boxes are further apart. If you can it might be worthwhile investigating some tallish footers as you cannot incorporate a shelf.
Their approach worked well with Naim and it now works well with dCS. I’m a believer in cable and resonance control investments. The Ansuz people did a demo last year close to where I live. I was impressed. Maybe as a side blow they brought a Nordost Odin 2 power chord to compare. I liked the Odin better than the Ansuz cable they demoed it against first. But the second next level up was no question at all. Hands down Ansuz.