Soul of discretion!
And still… dCS chooses to demo with D’Agostino and Wilson in nearly every show picture I can find. Just sayin… ; )
Prior pic was 2016, I believe. Here is 2022 (again no pre-amp)…
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I wonder what cables are used?
Looks like Transparent.
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Transparent cables
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Interesting, Transparent is what my dealer uses as well.
While @Phil of course brings up important points about the show environment (which he surely knows 100x more about than I), this surely would not apply to dCS’s own factory and listening room in the UK.
I note that in a 2019 Darko article about his factory tour to dCS, that room is described and pictured as below. Again, just, say’in… ; )
“Wilson Alexx, D’Agostini Momentum 400, Transparent Magnum Opus cabling plus a full brace of dCS products”
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There was a time when the dCS listening room had Focal speakers and David Berning ZOTL Amps; a touch of tubes somewhere along the dCS chain does wonder[s] if you ask me 
Yes, and before dCS had the current distributor in the UK they demonstrated using VTL amps (tube). At that time dCS were the UK distributor of VTL as well as handling their own domestic distribution. Before then most UK show demonstrations of dCS used Spectral amps which were handled by dCS’ distributor of the time.
Sorry if I am repeating myself in some way but us customers need to remember that the company isn’t a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs like us but is a business and what they demonstrate is, if it can be done, a matter of business sense as well as of any technical justification.
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Of course as that is what he sells. Good cables but I wouldn’t read more into it than that. It could just as well be Nordost or Crystal or Siltech or AQ WEL/Mythical creatures or one of many other contenders. All may be good choices but the dealer will decide to stock the one that meets his particular business requirements.
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Spot on Pete. In fact, I believe Wilson speakers are wired internally with Transparent cables which is why Wilson set-ups are often paired with Transparent cabling, and not particularly because Transparent are any better (or worse) with dCS systems.
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I promised myself to write up my experience with cd/digital. It might inspire others.
I first came into contact with cd in 1982 and recoiled in horror at the sound it produced. I remained a vinyl enthusiast until abt 15 years ago. No new classical performances were being issued on vinyl, especially regarding the revolutionary interpretations spurred on by Gustav Leonhardt and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. I reluctantly bought into digital. Same result: cd had remained “unlistenable”. I upgraded and upgraded until I bought a dCS Vivaldi 3-piece suit. Better, but vinyl was in a league of its own. I mothballed my whole cd-collection and concentrated on sacd instead. Fortunately, specialized houses had started publishing superb classical music performers on sacd.
I had a moment of epiphany when I got in touch with Max Townshend. He advocated elimination of vibration/ resonance in hifi-equipment, in particular regarding cd-readers, dacs, streamers. He was spot on. Good power supply and good insulation are key to a good hifi-installation, at any price point. I now claim that at least 50% of a hifi-budget should go to power and support. And of course, my Vivaldi-suit profited disproportionally from the power and support improvements I made over the years, often at a fraction of the price of the main equipment.
Did sacd become “listenable”? Marginally, whilst cd remained a basket case.
Enter Apex. I upgraded my Vivaldi DAC. Different. But most digital gremlins persevered. How disappointing! I dug in. I upgraded to Synergistic Research Purple fuses (for the whole suit) and burned-in the new equipment for 200 hours. I ran the Nordost burn-in track on 3 occasions. I demagnetized. And suddenly everything popped into place. Sacd improved substantially, cd improved dramatically. Hearing is believing. I might still hear an “electronic signature” which is totally absent in vinyl. But cd now conveys the timbre of instruments, the intention of the interpreters, the emotion of the performances. I am rediscovering about 500 cds on which I had given up. I had read somewhere with some amusement that Wadax had pulled off this trick. I now know that the reviewer was probably correct. I also now know that dCS can further improve the Vivaldi-suit performance rather dramatically. But that is a discussion for another day.
Which brings me to the issue of by-passing pre-amplifiers. Time and again I read comments/ complaints on hifi-blogs that find their root in power-supply/ vibration-resonance issues. I recognize the issues from personal experience. Solve them, and the comments/ complaints vanish at the stroke of the fairy’s magic wand. This blog is no different. On top of that, Apex brings dramatic improvement to the analogue output stage. There is absolutely no more need for a preamp. A preamp, ANY preamp, adds colouration. That colouration helps mask power-supply/ vibration-resonance issues by adding even more to the mix, sometimes successfully.
How do I switch between vinyl and cd? The Vivaldi DAC has an integrated volume control, and so does my phono-amp. Switching has become a question of changing the output cables from the DAC to the phono-amp and vice versa. A one-minute job. With the advantage of achieving mind-boggling clarity, purity, flow, “darkness”, air, space, note-decay, musicality etc…
Enjoy the music!
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Thats fine if you have a phono stage with volume control, i dont and i guess the next question would be, how good is that volume control, as they can be very bad.
For me things changed massively yesterday.
My completed fraim rack has gone, its been replaced with an artesania audio twin rack.
My 500dr is out along with the 552dr, and in its place i am trying a vitus sia030.
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I agree. Phono-preamps with volume control are a rare breed. Phono-preamps with a good volume control are even rarer. I bought a discontinued Clearaudio Statement phono-preamp.
Welcome to the world of good audio support! Make sure your amps are also well-supported, it makes a night-and-day difference! And before you decide, may I make two suggestions? Check-out power conditioning (mildly bank-account breaking) and power cords (totally bank-account breaking BUT… can be bought second-hand with confidence from reputable sources). Dabbling with fuses is controversial in some quarters but brings immediate reward if done according to OEM specs. The rest of the cabling is too taste-dependent.
Enjoy the music!
I’ve been listening to the sia030 for a few hours now, and it’s certainly a beast.
I’ve been running it in class A / classic mode.
The bass control this has over my 500dr is what first hits you. It’s very different, deeper, more volume to you, and better clarity to it.
I am very pleased to hear that the details are still present, or at least i haven’t noticed them not there. It also has a nice bit of warmth added, that directly didn’t have, this is probably the class A, but it’s certainly sounds very nice, much better than the 500dr/552dr combo could do.
What a vitus amp only would sound like going direct. i don’t know. That would be interesting to try, i guess, but i need a pre, and for now, this will do very nicely.
I do have a humbolt to try against the sia030 in a few weeks time, so that’s going to be interesting.
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I have not got my phono stage in yet as I am trying a different one to the naim superline i have.
Here is a pic for now
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Hey Dunc
Is it a brand new unit or dealer demo? The reason I ask is break in. Not sure what Vitus is like however we both know what Naim requires. Perhaps ask my friend Mark (Varyat) on the Naim forum about his experience. I know Mark liked the Vitus but ultimately moved on due to his requirement for a volume knob.
Best
Gregg
No volume knob was one of the reasons why I sold my Devialet years ago…
It’s a trade-in, so apart from a bit of a warm up, it’s ready to.
I don’t mind the volume control, as i always used the naim remote for volume, and that’s a bit funny how that operates.