Dunc did not want to get tempted to change again. D100 is really very good especially as a remote controller is now available for £30.
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What seems to have made the difference is connecting the D100 to the Upsampler via my Melco N1/S1 rather than direct to the Upsampler.
Not technical enough to explain why.
Have finally found a Vivaldi transport which is affordable only if I manage to sell my Melco N1/S38 and Melco S1.
It’s you on pinkfish.
I would try to find why the vendor is selling the Vivaldi transport and its age. Also check with dCS on the spares situation for the Neoteric transport ( Mk1 units).
If you can get the unit’s serial number you can check it’s known history with them.
Thankyou Pete - good advice. The Transport, taken in as a trade-in, is being sold by a dCS Vivaldi dealer so I would hope all will be well. But your advice is well taken and I will check.
dCS have spare transports for these that i know, I also know if you’re one needs one in the future and it probably will if you keep it for sometime, expect a sit down moment on price to fix.
Other than that its a fantastic thing to have and own, especially if you have the rest of the vivaldi stack, like you do. Sitting on top of the stack will look stunning.
I would also have one in a heart beat, and it would have to also be the mk1, but for me I hardly ever play cd’s, don’t and haven’t bought one in decades, plus the biggest thing that put an end for me wanting one, is seeing dCS themselves use just streaming at demo’s, and have done so for years, sometimes the transport is there but it’s not used, this said a lot to me. But even after saying that, I would still have one if I had the money and didn’t mind losing it if things went wrong, but atleast you know if they do, dCS can and will help get it working once again.
Yes thanks Dunc but it’s a good idea to check the unit’s provenance with dCS as Pete suggests.
It’s not a done deal yet. A small matter of the N1 and S1 as explained over on PF.
dCS will fix it whilst they can. There are already transports from earlier periods which they are unable to support as spares are required but no longer available. That is why I suggested that Albany gets advice from dCS on the spares position. It is not a case of if it will require attention, just when as things like the OPU have a finite life.
Obviously always good to ask and dCS will give you the correct answers.
I very much doubt the unit has been back to dCS for a new transport, as if it had the seller would certainly be promoting it, like they do. How long they last is just a guess, plus how long a spare transport lasts in a bag on the shelf is also something that’s probably unknown.
When we buy insurance we can only estimate the risk. That is what needs to be done here. As you correctly say we do not know the actual level of use of the transport.
We do know that silver disc players have two common areas of risk, The first is loss of power from the optical pickup unit as the laser ages. The second, with true SACD/CD transports, is with the mechanism which changes the lasers for correct focal length. This involves a cog which can wear.
So although we cannot know it is reasonable to assume that the risk of some kind of failure increases with age. note that this may well not involve a replacement transport mechanism just the above. However this is where spares are of concern.Unfortunately Teac ( the makers of the Vivaldi Mk1 transport) withdrew from OEM supply some years ago. Denon Marantz ( Vivaldi MKII) have also ceased OEM supply. dCS bought stocks of both when finally available which is why it is worth finding out roughly what remains.
So if the transport is from the earliest days it is up to 14 years old. As CD player lasers were originally estimated as having a life of circa 10K hours though this may have improved subsequently. Unless dCS has a good remaining stock of parts and if its history does not involve any replacement ( dCS can verify this) I would consider it a higher risk.
My experience? Verdi from new; three replacement OPUs. Paganini from new; one replacement OPU due to failure of the cog.
It’s certainly a gamble that’s why I said if I didn’t mind losing what every it costs then fine.
As they tend to be about £14k secondhand plus they look to be stuck at dealers, as the 2 i can see for sale have been with the dealers for a long time, well over 6 months and probably more like a year or more,as I looked last year and the same ones still for sale now. As long as you go into this with all the fact’s and you still valve it over what it might cost you, then go for it. But if you are only going to use it occasionally then it’s probably more a ticking time bomb and certainly not worth it. It’s why I bought what I did, but as said I can see why you would want a vivaldi transport. It’s a heart over head thing.
Anyway good luck with the sale of the melco units,I take it the dealer wasn’t interested in having them? As most don’t want anything these days unless you are buying new and they have 40% margin in it to begin with.
Eminently sensible advice Pete. I will call dCS on Monday and report back on the kind of advice they offer.
@albany My two cents.
Accuphase saw the problems with OEM CD/SACD mechanisms coming, when Sony gave up production, so they decided to develop and produce their own CD/SACD mechanism. This way they can guarantee servicing at any time. AFAIK the only parts which are outsourced are the laser diodes.
I my system there is an Accuphase CD/SACD transport (DC-900) connected to an Accuphase Voicing Equalizer (DG-68) with HS-Link. The output of the DG-68 in HS-link mode (not HS-Link 2 mode) is connected to the Vivaldi Upsampler via SPDIF (max. 176.4k).
I have not yet tried to sync the whole system with my Mutec MC3+ USB using it as a reclocker for the output of the DG-68 and a master clock for the Vivaldi components and the Network Bridge. I think it should work. The only drawback is, that the MC3+ USB only outputs 1 samplerate at a time. When you go from 44.1k to 48k the whole system has to resync.
BTW I also have a 10MHz reference clock (Mutec REF10 SE120) at hand to sync the Mutec MC3+ USB to it.
Amen to this I have often sighed and remembered the old ays when the instructions were one page and done. However, when I am feeling on top of things id look at the vivaldi “stack” of manuals and thank it for offering me so much.
Cheers
mike
dCS are proving difficult to contact by telephone. Does anyone have any idea of the current cost of a replacement mech for a Mk1 Vivaldi Transport ??
Transport I have in mind is somewhat older than expected. Bearing in mind the reliability ‘bathtub curve’ it may be an unacceptable risk to take on.
The only people who would know availability are dCS. They purchased the entire remaining stock from Teac AFAIK. Why have you problems phoning them?
it is 01954 233950. You should hear an automated message with a menu of options.If you are phoning from outside the UK it is +44 .
I doubt that you might need an entire mechanism, only the OPU replaced but it needs guidance from them. Remember that the cost of the unit is not the total as labour, shipping and tax need to be added.
I have tried the number on numerous occasions at different times of the day. I have also tried all the menu options. Each time I get “there is no agent available in the queue”
The Transport turned out to be 13 years old. The dealer ‘thinks’ it has had one previous owner but seems to know little about the unit. He just took it in as a trade-in.
Too risky ??
Yes, a bit of a risk.
My Vivaldi Transport (mark I) was 13 years old, and had to be serviced just twice; once for the OPU at the 11 year mark, and once for a tray eject mechanical part at the 12 year mark.
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Just for the avoidance of misunderstanding, we don’t sell, supply spares or offer service direct to consumers, everything goes though our authorized distribution network.
For units bought new please contact the dealer you bought it from, for second hand units please feel free to contact the local distributor. The contact details can be found on our website here.
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