There’s an Apex Vivaldi DAC and Upsampler listed that I’ve been interested in. Black ones don’t come up too often - so I did a bit of digging.
Bit of an odd one - in that the upsampler is a VUP serial number - but it’s running 2.1 and the digital serial number is a VPP…so it has had a streamer upgrade.
I’ve enquired though and as far a I can tell, the upgrade to VPP wasn’t done by dCS or Absolute Sounds.
The DAC looks to have slightly stronger providence, with the Apex upgrade having been done by Absolute Sounds.
The units were built in 2013 - so that in itself would probably rule them out for me. Feels very old. And there have been multiple owners in that time (not a problem in itself - but adds to the mystery around the upgrades)
It’s a pity - because I was quite tempted to move up to a Vivaldi.
Sharing in here as none of this detail is on the listings - and I had to find it myself. Buy with eyes open, and Caveat Emptor.
My motto is “ If in doubt, leave it out”. So, yes indeed Caveat Emptor ( I am currently involved with this on a non-dCS product).
The issue with used Vivaldi Apex is that , once obtained, not so many want to move away. However rather than ebay ( too many scams for my sense of security), remember:
A bit of a peculiar website/seller that. Emporium I think it is? He is not always the clearest in what exactly he is selling. Haven’t ever bought anything off him and could be fine in general, but seeing what he has, it is a bit of a hodgepodge. Some interesting stuff, some very old “vintage” stuff, some very high end. I once was interested in a Thomas Mayer amp at Emporium and after contacting the maker himself he was not at all charmed by Emporium in this case misrepresenting the amp as something it was not (different valve setup and price when new). Suffice to say I didn’t buy it.
Caveat emptor and you could be fine there. Not discounting it per se.
I’ve had good and bad stuff from/experiences with Emporium. They buy/trade, do not test, and sell on.
A couple of months ago I had to return an Isotek mains strip which started to smoke (yep!) when I plugged it in; thankfully no hifi plugged in at the time. Return for refund was efficient, no pushback, but it was obvious they had not even plugged it in themselves.
At the very least, I would be asking myself and them (a) what they know of the providence of the device and (b) where/how they acquired it. It’s difficult to imagine a Vivaldi coming in as a trade on something pricier!
Perhaps approach with the same caution one might approach a car auction…
After searching for a couple of years I recently bought a black VPP from tmraudio.com.
Condition almost mint. Fully satisfied. Voltage changed from 115VAC to 230VAC by my dealer.
They still do have a black Vivaldi APEX DAC for sale, but black VPPs or black Master Clocks are extremely difficult to find.
Yes - doing some digging into this to establish what gets upgraded and what is 12 years old. Transformers clearly I’ve no concerns about - capacitors (we were men of Naim of course) well…possibly…
This is my thinking too - I wonder if there is a Service I could get them to do. I’ve reached out to Absolute Sounds as well.
I do think it’s a good price - and I oscillate between tempted and worried! …on the upsampler especially as you say.
I’ve had a look - I think US probably rules it out.
Silver does seem much more popular than black - which is I think a little counter to the market generally. In the past I’ve considered approaching dCS to see if they can change colour (!!) …changing cases probably uneconomic, but putting back through the anodiser…possible I guess as part of a factory refurbishment…but not desirable!
I do have a bit more history on it than I’ve shared publicly - was in a studio most recently - which worries me further, as it’s likely to have been moved and be heavily used. This said - looks fine.
Yes - an odd outfit! …I asked about warranty - and they said 3 months RTB - which I guess means a 3 month refund window for anything, as they clearly don’t have the abilities to service it themselves.
Even if they would do a change of case I suspect that they would not re-anodise the existing one but fit a new black one. The case costs a substantial proportion of the entire unit and there would also be significant labour costs as it would need a complete rebuild.Plus VAT! Not economic, as you suggest.
I did ask someone at dCS what the most popular colour is; Silver.
Ask DCs for information on the unit. They helped us when we were sourcing s/h. Basically you don’t want to run into a ‘grey’ import that Ab Sounds may not support.
Why? I did not have any problems with importing my black VPP from the US.
Their description of the condition of the unit was absolutely correct.
The s/n is clearly visible on one of the photos, so just ask dCS support for infos about the unit.
They shipped via FedEX and FedEX also charged me for VAT.
The conversion from 115VAC to 230VAC can be done by any dealer / distributor according to dCS support.
I know in the past that dCS did provide special colors on some of their equipment. I know of an individual who ordered his Vivaldi One and clock in white. He wanted to match his white WAMM’s. They looked pretty good.
When he upgraded to Varese the dealer didn’t seem to have any problem selling the white versions to someone else.
The one problem I can see with them is trade in value. As the vivaldi is certainly much cheaper than any i have seen before, this suggests to me that the trade in on say a bartok or rossini is probably going to be on the low side, but could be wrong also you could sell yours privately, but that’s dead at the moment as you probably know.
Yes - perhaps I’m seeing obstacles that aren’t there - the comfort zone is a uk unit that I can touch and feel and collect…but from a reputable US dealer, yes…why not.