I see you managed to squeeze Varese in the cupboard
That was incredibly lucky haha, a totally coincidental perfect fit. The back of the cupboard has been cut out for ventilation. There is a Stromtank s2500 in the other side of the cupboard.
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Fantastic! Have you done any A/B comparison with and without preamp?
Fantastic! Have you done any A/B comparison with and without preamp?
Honestly, I had not yet thought to try. I will though, and will report back. I am also having the Momentum C2 swapped out for a Relentless in a couple of weeks so can can report on that too.
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Welcome aboard! Terrific system!
I have many questions, but the most important. Why is your remote next to your equipment? 
You need to buy another cabinet to fit the Varese CD player.
Awesome system! Congratulations 
I’ve discussed this internally and there is no black or white answer here. Neither the differences in propagation delay nor the electrical characteristics due to ”domestically feasible” speaker cable length differences are likely to be audible, but it can’t be ruled out completely. I think the biases/priorities of the user are likely to be the deciding factor here.
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Or alternatively @PAR … I put equal length speaker cables in because unequal lengths would constantly offend me as I would know, even if I couldn’t see them, that they were unequal lengths and it would mess up my innate need for some kind of order… 
I’m now going to go and make sure all the forks in my cutlery drawer are all neatly nested…
Phil
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Agreed.
Plus, difficult to sell speaker cables of different lengths in the used market. In fact, I can’t recall ever seeing a pair….
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@keiserrg i have a set of speaker cables that are significantly different length and they work terrific. Thinking outside of the box but they are transparent audio opus. They have a interior network that is designed to accommodate each specific length (of course factory terminated) and “tuned” to compatibility for my specific speakers and amps. They are certified and can be corrected at the factory to any different setup that i choose. A secondary buyer would need to make certain that they would match their setup or pay ta to adjust the networks( in laymans terms).
Interesting Barry!
I also have Transparent cables (speaker and interconnect), but the “lesser” XL range.
To be honest, I have no idea if Transparent cables are worth the money. The Only reasons I own them are because (a) dCS runs them in its factory listening room, and (b) I found a used certified dealer pair at half price.
Mine too were “tuned” for the old Guarneri monitors I own. I understand the idea for “tuning” the cable originally came from MIT Cables, which Transparent appropriated….
Fantastic system, congrats
I was just reading back after returning from travel this evening and I think this is actually an interesting question. Truthfully I don’t actually use the remote? I use Roon, and very occasionally Mosaic (which I also use for changing maps and filters). I’m a Qobuz guy, so when Qobuz Connect comes to the Varese I’ll probably use that a lot.
Let me turn the question back to the forum. What real reason would one have to use the remote over the app(s), especially if you are using a preamp for volume control?
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System update: the D’Agostino Relentless preamp was installed today. Out of the box, initial impressions are that it is a worthwhile upgrade over the C2 – a significant jump in instrument realism and front-to-back staging. It will need to burn in, though, so I will revert later on the system as a whole, but also the Relentless vs direct Varese-to-power-amps, once the system has settled and I am familiar with the Relentless.
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Fantastic system!
I love that white unit. Lovely clean lines. Who is it made by? There is definitely a fair bit of weight on it.
Fantastic system!
I bought it at a local furniture importer and can’t seem to resurface the details. It is indeed holding a lot of weight, but, touching (its) wood, feels very much up to the task.
We bought it before the Alexx Vs, and are just so lucky one of Wilson’s paint choices almost perfectly matches, as does the mocha speaker cover they make and the brown wood handles on the sideboars unit. Significant helped with WAF on this setup as you might imagine, given it’s position in the family loving room.
The turntable to the right is one of Jony Ives’ LP12-50 units 
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Thank you @Jobsian
Follow up from Showing (off) your dCS setup - description and photos - #1633 by Ermos
Final result:
- Replaced NAD T778 AV Surround Sound Receiver with
- Marantz AV 20 AV processor
- Marantz MM 7055 5 ch power amp
- Audioquest Yukon XLR cables
The AV 20 puts out L + R front into Benchmark LA4 preamp, which input channel was set to 0.0 dB pass-through with attenuation disabled, and outputs to Simaudio Moon 760A power amp, and center and surround L + R into MM 7055.
For the moment the AV 20 was set up with the the built-in Audyssey MultEQ XT32, Audyssey Dynamic EQ, Audyssey Dynamic Volume and Audyssey LFC, which made some nice improvements.
Later on I will decide whether to replace Audyssey with Dirac Live licenses. The AV 20 is capable of running Dirac Room Correction Full Bandwidth, Dirac Bass Control and the new Dirac Active Room Treatment.
After adding the AV stack it directly suffered from a nasty ground loop hum. Troubleshooting was fairly easy, since the hum was volume setting independent, so was coming from up from the AV 20. It appeared to be the coax TV cable. I inserted a coax ground loop isolator (an inductor that eliminates the potential differences) with great result: no more hum, and TV signal unaffected.
- Added dCS Lina headphone amp, connected by RCA to the so far spare dCS Rossini Apex DAC RCA outs, with HifiMan Susvara cans
- Replaced old rug with a hand tufted high pile rug for better visuals and room reflection damping
Now it is time to enjoy, and then to think of upgrading, since the torture never stops 
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@Ermos – It’s nice to be in a place where you can take a few minutes, sit back and enjoy what you’ve put together. Well done, it looks like a great grouping of components that will play well together and provide hours of fatigue-free enjoyment.
A quick question – can you comment on how the Lina headphone amp is working in the set-up and how it sounds using the available RCA jacks for its connection? I have been seriously considering doing the same for a while now and have not yet pulled the trigger to purchase.
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Thanks @ksweiss , it was a lot of work, but since yesterday I really started to enjoy my new setup, in a hectic way, switching between 2 channel music, multichannel music and surround movies. When the new feeling is over, then it is time to listen and watch in a calm way.
I did not yet come to headphone listening. I am very familiar with the Lina headamp through XLR, and I am very happy with the SQ, but now I have to see how it is through RCA.
Will report ASAP.
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@ksweiss My Lina headamp is working very well on RCA from Rossini Apex DAC RCA out, at 6 V. Very enjoyable SQ, and I do not notice a difference with XLR. So both outputs can be used, simultaneously, or separately.
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