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Climbing the DCS ladder

Thetiminator said:
Update:
Well the Bartok arrived, but it turns out it’s the Apex version.
When I first tried the standard Bartok I found it sounded very different to my Boulder, being a much weightier sound but it felt like it was rolled off at the extremes. I did like it but it didn’t have the magic of the Boulder.
Well one things for sure, the change from Bartók to Apex is not subtle, so much so that it now sounds very similar to the Boulder.
I’ll put the Boulder back in the system tomorrow and report back once I have had a really good listen to the Bartok Apex…

And on top of all that….apparently there’s a Vivaldi arriving on Monday 🙄
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Final update (for now probably ):
Well after running the Bartok Apex for a few days, I stuck the Boulder back in place. My inityimpression hadn’t changed in that the Bartok Apex and the Boulder sounded more alike than different. The Bartok had slightly bigger bass but in the imaging, and attack departments, the Boulder blew it away. Weighing everything up I wouldn’t spend any money to change. So once again…the Boulder stays…

But….then the Vivaldi arrived. Now it was a completely different beast and sounded very different to the Boulder. To me it sounded like a supercharged (non Apex) Bartok. It had that analogue, weighty sound, but was much much better than the Bartok. Putting the Boulder back in: the Boulder blew the Vivaldi away in terms of clarity, detail, bass detail and attack, but the Vivaldi just had a really analogue sound and it was just more musical. It also had a much bigger bass than the Boulder.
For 10 years I’ve tried some really tasty dacs to see if they can better the Boulder. I’ve just found one, so the Vivaldi is staying and my beloved Boulder will have to go up for sale…..
 
Salamander said:
And yet the Boulder blew the Vivaldi away in terms of clarity, detail, bass detail and attack, but was more analogue sounding.
Strange!
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“Putting the Boulder back in: the Boulder blew the Vivaldi away in terms of clarity, detail, bass detail and attack, but the Vivaldi just had a really analogue sound and it was just more musical”.

Think you just read it wrong…the Vivaldi was more analogue sounding and musical.
 
As a foot note. Thats all in my system with the horns. The horns are ruthlessly revealing and if I had any of the conventional box speakers I’d had over the years (B&W800’s, Revel Salon 2’s, big Wilson’s etc), I think the Boulder would have wiped the floor with the Vivaldi….
 
Yes but the Boulder was (IIRC) somewhere around £15k 15 years ago..when money was money. So in the same ballpark really…
 
Apols but could you remind me what model the Boulder is? To get close to dCS Vivaldi is quite a thing, and I am not wholly familiar with Boulder kit. Thanks.
 
Thetiminator said:
Think you just read it wrong
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I don't think I was the only one, there at least two others who have interpreted your post in the same way.
You say the Boulder blew away the Vivaldi in terms of clarity, I know the Rossini Apex is no slouch in the clarity stakes, and then to splash out circa £40k on something that cannot get the bass to match your Boulder seems very strange.
 
TheFlash said:
Apols but could you remind me what model the Boulder is? To get close to dCS Vivaldi is quite a thing, and I am not wholly familiar with Boulder kit. Thanks.
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It’s a 1012. It really is a great piece of kit. In reality it’s a preamp with a phono stage and Dac boards built in rather than a Dac that you can use as a preamp too.
I can’t remember which Dac chips it uses, but I do know one of the boards developed a fault last year, and I had both boards changed (to do the job right) and the two boards with the Dac chips were £1k each. Apparently like hens teeth and go for £600 each on the used market…IIRC several other brands use them, I think one was Ayon in their top models.
 
Strong rumours that the Vivaldi line will be replaced this or next year and the replacement will be much more speedy. There should be used Vivaldi's on the market when this happens. I hope you bought the Vivaldi used.

The Boulder DAC-Pre is a quality bit of kit, as is all the Boulder gear but as usual with US gear, the importers gouge the UK market.
 
Colin L said:
Strong rumours that the Vivaldi line will be replaced this or next year and the replacement will be much more speedy. There should be used Vivaldi's on the market when this happens. I hope you bought the Vivaldi used.

The Boulder DAC-Pre is a quality bit of kit, as is all the Boulder gear but as usual with US gear, the importers gouge the UK market.
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I'll have to sniff around the dCS stand next week then :cool:
 
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