Here’s the latest review of Bartók Apex. It gives me the itch to go ahead and take the drive I’ll have to make for an audition.
4 Likes
The thing is the charge for an upgrade is more than double the price of what the unit is worth right now.
For good measure and environmental friendliness they should do what Linn did with their Klimax DS upgrade, which was to include the upgrade with a “Renew DS” - a refurbished DS using the old inneard of the old unit and a cheap case. That way the customer can have a decent spare unit for other use or to salvage some of the hefty upgrade cost .
The Apex upgrade is what it is and costs what it is. It is basically the same upgrade using the same parts with the same labour costs whether it’s Bartok , Rossini or Vivaldi. Hence the cheaper the cost of the base product the larger the cost of the upgrade is as a percentage of overall value.
Of course the upgrade is , in any case, only an option. Without Apex Bartok is still a great DAC. I think it is generous of dCS to make this offer to existing owners when most manufacturers would have treated such a significant change as a reason for a new product range leaving owners to get what they could on the second-hand market and to fund the full cost of the replacement.
2 Likes
Understood about the upgradability. But the Linn RENEW DS concept would be something to be considered?
There are 3 tiers of Bartok upgrade pricing, so one can say it is what it is until it isn’t. Either the APEX upgrade is what it is or it’s not.
Until and unless dCS informs us that older Bartok owners are getting additional changes that have happened over time, then we can only assume we’re being asked to pay up for the price increases over time (and then some).
If only the Bartok APEX upgrade cost what it cost. That’s what rubs some folks the wrong way. You pay based on the time you’ve owned your device. This would not be an issue if there was one Bartok upgrade price same as there was for Rossini and Vivaldi.
So my Bartok remains a Bartok. It’s still a great DAC. I still love it.
The Audio Beat review is encouraging (it bypasses the tier structure, from what I read—he’s upgrading a Bartok he bought as a 2.0 device, a recent device), but there’s a perception and psychological aspect that impacts the decision to upgrade too. I can afford it but I feel like I’m biased against because I bought my Bartok early on.
I paid $ to upgrade my Resolution Audio Cantata Music Center to V3–there was one price for it.
I’m sorry, I’ll stop on this topic. I just feel a single upgrade price would have leveled the playing field and not left early Bartok adopters feeling stiffed because of the tiered pricing. If there was one price, the decision to upgrade would be an easy one.
1 Like
I understand completely where you are coming from and agree really. One price certainly would make it simpler or maybe owners that had only just bought it new got a discount.
This discount on newer units has caused quite a lot of concern. I would appreciate further advice if I am wrong but AFAIK the price paid by consumers is set by the dealer no doubt in the light of the price he has paid to the distributor. dCS only set the price to the distributor. I am not aware of the discount outside of N. America. Is this correct? If so dCS do not seem to be the party who has acted
There has been an increase everywhere from the first tranche of upgrades ( Vivaldi and Rossini only) to the second. This occurred during a time of big increases to just about everything so may be understandable. Remember too the rule of thumb which holds that in the audio market any price at the factory gate increases fivefold by the time of retail sale.
The original topic you raised was concerned about price. Although what Linn did might be technically viable for the Apex upgrade such a scheme would be far more expensive than the dCS upgrade. This consists of replacement of a single expensive board (DAC and output stage) and the parts and labour involved. The Linn scheme seems to involve the cost of the complete unit’s internal works. For a Bartok this would be not only the board above but also power supplies, control board, network board etc, ( or however it is structured). Plus the cost of another “cheap case”. Labour costs would be increased too ( imagine the time expended on fitting and testing all of those input and output ports - twice). So whatever the advantage, if any , in thereby creating a second but spare Bartok it isn’t going to save money.
How about make that an option for a refurbished unit? For a nominal price?
John, one can think up all sorts of imaginary schemes of what they might have done. However I don’t see where that gets us. They made their decisions in the light of business information that we do not have access to.
I would also say that this has moved quite a way off topic ( partly my fault) This supposed to be about the Audio Beat review of Apex.
2 Likes