Varese vs Vivaldi

In a few weeks (23 November) my local US Dealer is hosting Emron Mangelson and the new Varese. At this invitation only event, they will be doing a direct comparison of Vivaldi vs Varese. I am truly looking forward to this opportunity, not only to hear Varese but to see how it compares to the prior top of the dCS line.

Has anyone else been able to directly compare the two and if so what were your observations?

Yes, as reported on my “New Kid” thread, albeit in an unfamiliar system and with speakers that have a very different sonic character to my own. Nevertheless I had the system all to myself for a good part of an afternoon and had the opportunity to play several well known test tracks and compare back-and-forth.

At the risk of creating insurmountable expectation bias my observations were that Varèse was better on every obvious parameter, and not subtly so. Two that are particularly dear to my heart are:

  • soundstage: larger in all dimensions and with more pinpoint placement and “separation”, and
  • micro detail: timbre (does a double bass start sounding like a timpani below a certain frequency?), note decay (is it portrayed as clearly as the attack?), etc.

To me, these are critical ingredients of the “magic trick” of momentarily allowing your brain to fool you that you are actually somewhere else, “there”. My summary was that it sounded like “the very best analog” which I intended as a supreme compliment but wasn’t necessarily taken as such by my hosts. Oops! :hot_face:

It’s swings and roundabouts though. I was even able to hear a dub on one familiar track, where two takes had apparently been spliced together. It breaks the “spell” but it’s still pretty amazing when you’ve never noticed it before. In retrospect I wish I had listened to the 1981 Gouldbergs (I didn’t). I wouldn’t mind betting that Gould’s humming would be as clear an “instrument” as the left and right hands and the “mouse orchestra” would be audible even at normal listening levels!

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Yes, I spent over 90 minutes with the Varese and Vivaldi back on the 19th. I posted my initial thoughts in a separate thread (Varese Review(to come) ). Both units were connected to. d’Agostino Relentless pre amp for easy switching I did not have to alternate too many times to hear the difference.

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So, I had my opportunity to hear the new Varese first hand (with David Stevens flying in for the US launch). They A/B’d the Vivaldi Apex 3 box stack vs the Varese 5 box stack. The audible difference/improvement was immediately apparent. Everything had more depth, tonality and realism.

But was it “night & day” different as some have described it, not for me, While technically I think it is revolutionary but sound wise I thought it was more evolutionary. And you have to address the elephant in the room…. is it worth the price of His AND Hers Porsche 911’s??? Or a nice vacation cottage?

I guess for some that may not be an elephant but rather a small pet as I overheard one of the earlier auditioners putting a down payment on a Varese for delivery early next year.

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Thanks naperaudio- so you’ll stick with your “poor” :wink: Vivaldi and wait for the next generation?

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I am sure it’s better, but then so it should be at the huge price it is at.
As i said for me the vivaldi will do me fine, and whatever updates it might get going forward.
I certainly won’t be changing mine for whatever replacement comes for it, as it’s certainly going to cost me a lot to do that, and for me i cannot see much point.

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At this pricing level, the potential customers are audiophiles, obviously, but with almost unlimited revenue, they just don’t care about buying a 911, even a GT2 RS…They had 25 of them when they were 18 years old…They are more concerned about being able buying a 2.000.000 $ Patek Philippe…

T38.45 … if only I was just “poor” instead I’m virtually homeless (only own a Rossini)

ChrisK … well said, if your wearing your Patek and drinking ‘89 Romanee Conti while listening to your new Varèse, money doesn’t matter.

Off thread but I’m down on Patek. Too many maintenance issues. Like a Ferrari. Great to look at, not to own. I don’t like wizbangs. I like things that work, reliably. dCS: zero maintenance issues in ~15y.
(Big thumbs up).

Rolex: classic, “boring”, no maintenance issues…

Just sayin’…
; )

???

Mechanical watches really should be serviced every 10-15 years for lubrication etc. That said collecting watches was my poison many years ago - and I still have several. Patek - purchased in 1998, never serviced, and still running. Lange & Sohne - purchased 1994 upon relaunch of the brand. Kept on ticking, never serviced, until 2021 when it needed an overhaul. Jaeger Lecoultre - purchased in 1985. One service in its entire life cycle - passed on to my daughter. Breguet - purchased in 1985 - still running never serviced.

I would say for an object which has moving gears, springs etc. - that is pretty damn good.

dCS - other than the “volume control” - no moving parts. Not a fair comparison.

Back to the regularly scheduled program :laughing:

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Rossini Player
Rossini Transport
Vivaldi Transport
Vivaldi One

Moving parts! Lots of maintenance issues! (And obsolescence)

: )

(However, I was comparing two mechanical watch brands among themselves, and clarifying a personal preference on design philosophy of simplicity, not comparing a mechanical Rolex to a dCS product, as I hope was obvious in the post)

Cheers,
R

Hi Richard

Understood. That is why I swore off of CD drives when Linn introduced the Klimax DS in 2007. I still have my Linn KDS, it has been constantly updated, and it still serves me well (in my headphone setup).

Rolex - “boring” - agree 100%. Personally I never understood the love. I am a mechanical Chronograph kind of guy.

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I’ve had just 2 service instances for my Vivaldi Transport in 12 Years! So, hardly “lots of maintenance issues” :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

My Linn Sondek CD12 and Unidisk 1.1 had maintenance issues every.single.year that I owned them :laughing: It wasn’t a big surprise when Linn decided to chuck mechanical disc players for good.

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I guess it’s all relative. To me, that’s a lot!

: )

Naim CDX2 started acting up the first day in service. The dealer came over, heard it, and carted it away immediately. New one ordered.

Naim CDS3 started acting up the first week of service.

This is why I swore off of CD players. The mechs dCS use may be of higher quality however I would not like to have to ship one back for repair from NY to UK.

My last CD player was the Naim CD555. Once I heard from the owner of Naim USA they were not capable of repairing units here in the States and they would have to go back to the UK, I decided the time had come to abandon the spinning disk. Klimax DS has been flawless during all these years of ownership.

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We are of the same mind Gregg. For me it was this, and the realization that my stacks of CDs, piled high from floor to ceiling, could now all fit in the palm of my hand, in uncompressed format.

I sent everything off to some place in Minnesota to be digitized, sold/donated the returned disks for peanuts in NYC, and that was that.

I’m homeless too, bad times for audiophiles…

But at least you’ve got a nice car stereo …

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Always wondered what people thought when Lange relaunched, it was well before my time, but must have been quite an event! If you like Lange and chronographs you’re really on the right track :slight_smile:

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