I think you meant the Susvara paired with the LINA. The Shangri La works well with the T2. I have yet to hear it with their own amp, one day.
Correct. Very sturdy, and sized to accommodate the rather large VPI HRX that sits atop it. We had to take a few doors off their hinges to get it into the room.
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Amplifier: Melody Everest 211 tube amp
Speakers: Spatial Europe MC No5
Streamer: DCS Bartok
Core: Silent Angel Z1 V2
Switch: Melco S100
Power supply: Ferrum Hypsos (for Silent Angel Rhein Z1)
Power supply: Ifi Power Elite (for Melco S100)
Cables: XLR Tubulus Concentus (DCS > Amplifier)
Speaker cable: Duelund DCA10GA
Powercable: Yeti cable and Neotech/ETI Research
Ethernet: Melco S100 > DCS Bartok Tasker C701 / Telegartner.
Powerblock: Furutech
Audio furniture: Custom made American Walnut
Modest set compared to many sets presented here. Components have been carefully matched and match very well. Switch to open baffle speakers in combination with a stable tube amp. was an eye opener. The sound character is open with a large stage, short and dry bass with more than sufficient body, live experience, mid area realistic and honest due to the 13" mid unit, among other things. Relative cheap speakers for what they can offer.
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Love the simplicity and the consistent aesthetic, sonically and visually. Chapeau!
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Great system and superb timber work
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Recent addition of the REL Carbon Special subs taking signal from the Rossini Apex RCA outputs. MBL don’t approve using high level signals from the amps.
That will be me for quite a while I think.
Next project will be re-decorating the room.
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Looks like a former Naim over there (as I now am after +20 years). What Fraim modifications have you made - I no longer see glass tops - what did you replace them with? Are the steel balls still in place?
Gregg,
The Fraim base is on Townshend corners and the glass has been replaced with cut down laminated boards (of the Ikea cutting board kind 
)…no balls.
Just an experiment and no sonic change tbh.
I have more levels to add when my pre-amp comes back from the doctors though I suspect running direct from the Rossini Apex to the 9008a’s might be the best option sonically. We shall see.
WOW! Incredible system!
Yum! Love seeing subs appearing a bit more often. Hope they’ve made as big a difference for you as they did me. Seems no matter how lovely a system there’s normally some improvement.
I’m currently alternating between the Rossini Apex and the Emmlabs DV2 in my setup. Both are exceptional, but I have to admit, slightly embarrassingly in a dCS forum, that I have a slight preference for the DV2. This is probably why I haven’t progressed to the Vivaldi.
At the moment, I’m experimenting with running my system completely off-grid, using batteries. For cabling, I exclusively use monocrystal silver, primarily from Albedo, and also Crystal and Siltech for network cables.My collection includes several standmount speakers, and I’m keen to find a suitable floorstander soon.
In terms of amplification, I’ve tried connecting the dCS and Emmlabs directly to Vitus monoblocks but wasn’t entirely satisfied. The sound was wonderfully transparent but a bit too soft for my taste. Recently, I added a Gryphon Essence power amp, which initially had a similar issue of softness. However, this improved after I added a preamp. I’m still exploring this preamp issue, as I appreciate the transparency of a direct connection. I’m not certain if choosing a low output voltage, not exceeding the power amp’s input sensitivity, was the right approach.
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do you use network transporter like Lumin or Playback Designs?
Yes, I use the Lumin U1X, which outputs to a DDC sync with a master clock before reaching the Rossini. This master clock, made by Denafrips, can also output a word clock to the Rossini DAC at the same time. Synchronizing both the DAC and DDC using the same clock produces good results.
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Nice subs😁 and system. With the quality of gear you are using and the size of the room your biggest bang per buck will be full range speakers.
As above, I use the Carbon Specials with the very full-range MBL 101e2’s, to great effect.
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Your MBL falls into the high-end dream category, a prized addition to my wishlist. 
I grappled with the two REL Carbon Specials until I decided to forego high-level connections and opt for solid-core silver RCAs. This change significantly improved the pace and enhanced the bass with more definition.
Well…I understand you…But, you should listen to the Vivaldi, it is so much better than the Rossini, no comparison is possible! It costs more, that is another discussion, but sound wise it is completely something else…
I heard the Gryphon Essence ( no preamp) with Marten Mingus Quintet II…beautiful sound…
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I’m confident that Vivaldi is excellent, and I’m keen to try it in my setup someday. However, my current priority is to acquire a floorstander.
I have a few questions about connecting the dCS to a power amp and would appreciate advice from experts here. The Gryphon Essence power amp has an input sensitivity of 0.564V. Should I limit the dCS output to 0.6V? I tried setting it to 0.6V, but the dynamics were disappointingly soft.
The Gryphon simply lacks the strength I’m used to when paired with its own preamp. If I set the dCS output higher, at 2V or 6V, which far exceeds the input sensitivity, will it cause clipping at high volumes? I’m encountering a similar issue with the Vitus power amp.
I’m uncertain if my dissatisfaction with the dCS driving the power amp directly stems from not appropriately using a higher output voltage. Can I be assured that using an output exceeding the input sensitivity will not result in clipping?
Thank you.
Not necessarily. In fact my power amps have an input sensitivity close to yours ( 0.5V).
When a line output is specified for a dCS unit this refers to its maximum output i.e. at 0.0fBfs. For it to produce this the signal that it is processing also needs to be recorded at the maximum level of 0.0dBfs. If a record has a dynamic range then for periods other than maximum loudness the signal will be below this. Further good recording engineers ( or rather good clients of theirs), will leave few decibels of level in hand to prevent exceeding that maximum accidentally. Now some recordings ( almost all in the Pop/Rock genre) may exceed that maximum ( see" loudness wars" and " intersample clipping). However there is not much we can do if such errors are made, in brief they just shouldn’t be.
Anyway the upshot is that with properly made recordings if you set an 0.0dB output level the actual signal should not reach that or only rarely and briefly
So you do not need to match the output of level of the DAC and the input level of the amp exactly. Importantly if you are using direct connection to a power amp , you are never using the volume control at an output of 0.0Bfs but at a lower setting ( I hope ). So the maximum output being used in real life is lower (including those earlier considerations). So you can see that matching the two sensitivities mathematically in a simple way is not required. You only need a rough starting point and then use the volume control.
However with direct connection from DAC to power amp with a a highly sensitive input you may find that a comfortable listening level requires the rotary volume control to be set at a low level too. However above -30dBfs ( I can’t remember the exact figure) should be OK.
Real life audio ( as opposed to text book theoretic perfection) often requires a balance between different factors including at a subjective level. In this case use of a preamplifier might be found to be preferable and more practical than direct connection. My personal choice is for this.
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Thank you very much for your detailed and insightful response. I appreciate your advice on balancing the various factors. It has always puzzled me that my Gryphon amp’s input sensitivity is 0.564V, while the matching Gryphon preamp’s output voltage is as high as 23Vrms according to the spec sheet. This could indicate that there is plenty of headroom. It seems sensible to follow your advice and judge based on comfortable listening volume. But, of course, nobody can guarantee we won’t encounter a bad recording. The safer choice is still to use a preamp. Thanks again.
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Interesting. Do Gryphon not respond to a specific customer queries?