Seeking Advice: dCS Bartok Apex with Dan D'Agostino Progression or Dan D'Agostino S350

[AndrewS (Andrew)]

@ngxant

• I’m not entirely sure whether the pre-amp stage in the Dan Agostino Progression adds any coloration to the overall sound, and if it does, how that would compare to the Bartók. From a technical engineer’s viewpoint, do you think the pre-amp in the Bartók is sufficiently capable of outperforming the Progression in terms of delivering better efficiency and performance, especially when directly connected to a power amp?

All amplifiers (including the output stage in the Bartók) add distortion and all add noise. The best add minimal amounts of both. However distortion can take many forms some of which sound horrible (mostly odd order harmonic) and some of which can actually sound quite pleasant (mostly even order harmonic). When people like the effect adding a preamp to the system has on SQ they are most likely reacting so some subtle distortion signature that is pleasant in nature. After all we only do this for enjoyment! No amplifier can remove noise or distortion already in the signal, they are “baked in”.

That said I think you might have misunderstood things slightly. It is not a question of Bartók or Progression, you need the output stage of the Bartók to drive the Progression integrated, you can’t bypass it. The only thing you bypass in the Bartók when using the Progression is the digital attenuation, everything else is still in circuit. So it is more a question of whether you need an analog preamp in addition to the digital one in the Bartók and per above the obvious reason would be if you have analog sources.

• Regarding control, I’m personally comfortable using an app-based remote, though I do recognize the convenience and tactile feedback a physical remote offers. For me, practicality and sound quality take priority, but I’m also interested in hearing if others found any significant difference in usability or satisfaction between these options.

The app works fine for me, I find most remotes a PIA, although that said, I think ones that focus on volume with a rotary control (like the Devialet “hand cream” or the Varèse “puck”) are nice.

• I’m also curious to hear from anyone who has had practical experience with this setup—connecting the Bartók directly to a power amp without a dedicated pre-amp. Personally, I’m confused & overwhelmed by the idea of needing a pre-amp or not, I would love to hear more real-world experiences from those who have experimented with this.

I have plenty of practical experience with this setup as this is how I run my system at home. You may want to browse through the “Showing (off) your dCS setup” thread where you will see many others do the same.

• Lastly, I do have some concerns about the safety aspect. When relying entirely on the volume control of the Bartók and connecting it directly to the power amp, is there any risk of damaging the speakers? Specifically, I’m wondering if there’s any chance that the volume levels could cause any issues, especially with something as delicate as the Accuton ceramic drivers.

Very wise to bear this in mind, as you say in this configuration the only thing between your speakers and the full anger of the Progression power amp would be the digital attenuator. That said I have only had one scare myself, and that was in a specific situation that I would describe as a bit of an “edge case”. I had a power amp driving my speakers and a headphone amp driving my headphones connected in parallel to the balanced and unbalanced outputs of my DAC. Then, while listening to the speakers I changed the output level from 2V to 6V, forgetting that I was unleashing 10dB of extra gain on my headphones as well. Luckily no ears or expensive drive units were harmed in the process but it was a lesson well learned!