But it’s so much better with good D/A conversion, Ben…
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I am using the line out on my DAP while my Rossini is ways for outpatient surgery. Not quite the same level of fidelity.
I will be using my turntable!
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To use my squeezbox is not really cool. ,
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It wasn’t while I was waiting for an APEX upgrade (we won’t have chance of those til all you guys are done) but at one point fairly recently I was using a Topping DX3 into a Krell and my Kudos 707’s… 
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APEX on order now 
but have no timeline …
At around 106 hours in, I am really impressed with the Rossini APEX. This is a huge step up in my playback. This upgrade is well worth doing.
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Dealer told me December now - boards are out of stock!
This is probably not the proper place to post this, then again, maybe it is. This afternoon I queued up two albums in Qobuz that I had listened to quite extensively before my Rossini APEX upgrade and had not listened to them until today. I have more than 200 hours in after the APEX upgrade. ( BTW, the two albums referenced are Melody Gardot: Sunset in the Blue – the first song “If You Love Me,” wow, the entire album is lovely from start to finish! And Till Brönner and Bob James: On Vacation – again the first song “Save Your Love For Me,” it just sets a perfect warm, relaxed mood, you’ll love every cut. )
The changes? My Rossini APEX sound quality is now (to a material degree) more lush, extended, smooth and presents better dynamics. Definitely far more analog sounding, maybe I don’t need my Thales TT any more!
I am thrilled to have made the choice to do the upgrade, I sincerely hope everyone’s experience who chooses to also do the upgrade is as super as mine has been. Yes, waiting is the hardest part.
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My dealer called this morning and let me know my Vivaldi was back after having the APEX upgrade completed. That was pretty a pretty quick turnaround. I dropped it off last Tuesday and it was back in my set-up today (just over a week later).
The biggest issue is finding enough around the cabinet to reconnect all of the cables.
Well it’s up and running but unfortunately I will be visiting my nephew this weekend so not much listening 'till next week.
Waiting to be called up for the upgrade on my rossini player and looking forward to it.
I noticed you say you have a thales turntable, well so do, which one do you have, etc.
See if you can stream a long playlist on the APEX so it breaks in while you are away. That worked well for me.
Dunc – Back before Brian Ackerman (then the Thales US Distributor) relocated from Parker, CO to Dana Point, CA I acquired from him a Thales Slim TT with the Easy Tonearm and an Ikeda Kai Reference Cartridge. This was just their entry level table and arm, but Brian brought the boxes to my house and did the complete assembly / set up and it has been a great addition to my rig. Part of the beauty of the sound is the high-quality of the Ikeda Kai cartridge (not one you frequently hear about in the print media, but certainly the sound quality it produces is right up there with some of the best I’ve heard). I had been looking at and listening to many higher priced tables in the various Denver area dealer showrooms, but when you can hear a component in your own system, in your own room – well, that’s the best kind of demo and I was hooked. It has worked flawlessly.
What table do you have, coupled with which cartridge? I think that Thales makes a pretty impressive TT system, very different from the massive tables being made by others. And the tonearm design is superb, certainly even better than mine in the more advanced, higher-priced models.
As to Lee’s comment about a long playlist to break in the APEX, I found a “best of” compilation for Julie London (I don’t remember the exact name of the “album”) through Mosaic using my Tidal subscription that had 235+ songs in the playlist that ran for hours and hours – this was used multiple times at night during the break-in period. The amp doesn’t have to be on/playing the music while you do the break-in, so even if you don’t like Julie London, this is a good long playlist to do part of the job. And, of course with Mosaic you can queue a bunch of playlists to run one after another.
Hi
I also enjoy my thales set up very much.
I started with the compact 11 turntable with base, this had a Simplicity arm mark 1, i then upgraded to the Simplicity mark 2 and now have a statement arm in gold.
I use a exquisite ST cartridge and naim superline/supercap dr as phono stage, tried lots of phono stages and this one suited me best.
I use both my rossini and this about 50/50, most of the time and each brings its own appeal.
But looking forward to the apex upgraded, but even if it turns my listening to say 80/20, i won’t be selling my turntable as that is now as far as i will go as that’s concerned.
Initially I had plans to continue deeper down the analog path and upgrade to the Compact TT and Simplicity arm, but then I got the Rossini and my listening patterns started to shift more that direction, I am probably now at 75% digital today and think I’ll stay at that level for the foreseeable future – I am ecstatic about the sound my Rossini APEX is now producing. Like you, I will keep my analog rig, no plans to move away from records, I’ve accumulated too many at this point to do that and I still love the Thales sound through my system.
Please let me know what you think of the APEX upgrade after burn-in, its does amp-up the SQ to be substantively more analog, at least in my opinion.
Looking forward to it, massively
The upgrade is not specific to a unit (luckily too 
). The back plate which is changed does not hold the serial number (it is on another plate next to the power connector).
I do not regret the move even if it still has to be tamed on my set up
Has anyone opened the back to confirm that those two back plates are separate? I agree it looks as if they are individual plates but was told that they are in fact one plate.
The only documentation I’ve seen from dCS on what is included in the upgrade describes it as follows from https://dcsaudio.com/edit/apex-your-questions-answered
What do I get if I purchase an upgrade?
Customers who purchase an upgrade will receive the new APEX hardware, plus a new APEX escutcheon. dCS will also issue a one-year warranty on APEX parts and labour for each upgraded unit.
Seems the “escutcheon” is just a badging of sorts. No idea how it is affixed to the rear plate.
I would be nice if someone from dCS would chime in so we can put this to bed. I know the large rear plate is new with the APEX designation. I just don’t whether or not both that and what appears to be the smaller of the two black rear plates is connected to the large plate or not.
There had been some talk that the changing of the rear Plate(s) took a bit of time during the upgrade process. Some fiddling involved.