All the best with your surgery, Bob!
Hifi News has published their dCS Varèse review:
hifi-news_varese.pdf (646.6 KB)
The stuff of dreams.
A towering stack, a lofty price –
and a monumental achievement:
the Varèse does that rare thing
of setting new standards and
making all that has gone before
sound – well, a little broken. The
immediacy of the sound, and
the way it steps aside to let the
music flow, is nothing short of
remarkable. You should hear
it in action, but prepare to be
disappointed in your own system.
Sometimes life’s like that.Sound Quality: 94%
Erno has beaten me to it . All I need to add at the moment is that the digital edition has not yet been posted ( unless in the last few minutes).
The HFN numeric score in the summing up is pretty obscure in its derivation so I treat it a s bit of fluff but even so the 94% score is the highest that I have seen for any product reviewed.
HFN review and accompanying measurements are of a high standard as usual and the entirety has left me wanting to own Varese. However, as the review says at its conclusion; delicious stuff, albeit the stuff of dreams. Sadly I will have to keep on dreaming.
I am afraid that if I ever hear the Varèse stack I will seriously be tempted…
Fingers crossed, tonight is lottery night
Good review. Kudos to the dCS team for submitting the Varèse for this review that includes measurements! (None of the other so-called state-of-the-art DAC manufacturers dares to - you know the usual suspects - it’s almost laughable )
Having heard Varèse myself, I can totally resonate with one of the key comments in the review, specifically at the initial listen;
Never have we known a set-up so capable of dispelling any thoughts of music being played through a hi-fi system, to the extent that it’s impossible to drill down and analyse exactly what this five-box front-end is doing so well.
One of my friends noted, HiFi News used the same Artesania rack for the Varese stack that I use. That’s a relief as this means I only need to find the odd £210k. I have checked the back of the sofa and the kids piggy banks and only £209,930 to go.
No bitcoins somewhere on an old harddrive?
I am afraid that you will require another £ 7.50. I hope that isn’t too much of a stretch . You may also want the forthcoming CD/SACD player making a total of around a quarter of a million £.
Just the 5 boxes for me. I’m not made of money.