Vivaldi vs Vivaldi Apex Impressions

[Ermos (Erno)]

@Jeffg2020

I’m doing the opposite now: my pre is all the way open and I control volume via the Vivaldi.

That is NOT the way to go. It is 1) possibly harmful, a mistake in setting your volume control on your Vivaldi could blow your pre, power amp, and speakers and 2) not the best at all for SQ. Any amp set to its max is prone to distortion.

@miguelito

What I do is set the Ongaku volume control at around noon, which is likely the loudest I would want to play and then trim down the Rossini volume by say 10 dB and go from there. Works great.

I think that @miguelito 's approach is the way to go.

[Jeffg2020 (Jeffrey M Gross)]

OK, thanks. Valuable advice from both of you.

Jeff

[Jeffg2020 (Jeffrey M Gross)]

Although now that I think about it, I’m perplexed. Why should an amp at maximum volume distort IF the actual sound level is acceptable? Is it not true that volume controls don’t “add” volume when you turn them up, they add attenuation when you turn them down.

The Ongaku is a fine piece of kit from what I hear BTW!

[miguelito (Miguel Barrio)]

I don’t think there’s any issue with running an amp at full volume other than the risk of blowing out your speakers if you inadvertedly pump a full signal to them.

Yes, I hear the Ongaku is a fine piece of kit. Every night.

[August (August H)]

You need some understanding of gain structure for this.

What is Gain Structure?

[Simon_C]

@PAR

My only caveat is one I and other posters have referred to. Do not make any judgement straight out of the box when it returns.That new output stage will take a while to burn in. A couple of hundred hours ?

I think I’m at the beginning of that experience: the sound of my Apex upgrade - fresh out of the box as it were - is exactly that of a poster on the “What’s Best” forum (‘Eldar’, who seems to be thoughtful and experienced):

My first impressions of the APEX was that of a very pleasant, high resolution, dynamic and warm, to almost dark, sound. The bass register had more authority. On some recordings I almost felt that this dark tendency created a hint of bass «muddyness», both in classical and rock recordings.

I can hear suggestions of greater resolution in the bass, but also the muddyness noted above. Tonight I’ll be running the built in burn-in function on the DAC (which has taken several emails to Phil at dCS to get working). My previous experience of a side by side Apex/non-Apex comparison was with Bartok, and I think the differences with Vivaldi are rather greater. This is consistent with the impressions of others, I believe.

I’m a bit late with my upgrade, I know. dCS have told me that the take-up of the offer is well above 90% (not sure if that is Vivaldi only, or across all models).

[PAR (Pete)]

I’m in my second year with Vivaldi Apex and it remains exceptional. There has been no diminution through familiarity. Better front end equipment also increases benefits.

I can assure you that Apex bass is text book superb - no muddiness whatsoever. Yes, continue burning in. Let us know how you get on in a couple of weeks.

[Frankie67 (Franco Agopyan)]

I have owned a full Vivaldi Apex stack for quite some time now and I’m extremely pleased with it. Never heard anything like it yet (although I’ve not listened to Varese yet).

[aprisun (Ryan Kim)]

My DAC will be upgrade from Tuesday. Japan really expensive its upgrade cost.

[Patatorz (Ludovic)]

@PAR

I’m in my second year with Vivaldi Apex and it remains exceptional. There has been no diminution through familiarity. Better front end equipment also increases benefits.

I can assure you that Apex bass is text book superb - no muddiness whatsoever. Yes, continue burning in. Let us know how you get on in a couple of weeks.

I fully subscribe to your points @PAR . Mine has been upgraded from local reseller a bit more than one year ago and fully enjoying the additional impact in bass and fluid restitution.