dCS Bartok Apex vs any similar priced DAC

After almost a years time the OP most certainly made a choice- @seadog137 what was your verdict? 

@jymc but given this:

You are well aware of the role "synergy" plays in a particular system of assembled components, not to mention the effect of the room itself.

why would this matter?

Buy a couple of plane tickets if necessary and audition for yourself through a competent/honest dealer.

Unless by chance the dealer has the exact same other components, which is a long shot.

Without these...

The most people on these sites can offer is a simple opinion/statement that likely amounts to, "I like my expensive DAC very much"

...according to you, "shallow non-substantive" opinions there would not be much on any of these forums, would there?

Also, perhaps someone mentioning a DAC they haven't even heard, but just read about, that may not be as popular on this side of the pond, like the Aries Cerat for example, may not have been on the OP's radar at all, and it may turn out after demo'ing it to be the perfect DAC for the OP, so "shallow non-substantive" post turned out to be very valuable information. 

Most importantly, like so many other threads the OP just disappears and never returns so valuable/useless posts aside, it is all for nothing.

I hope we can both agree that here is an example of a great thread:

DAC advice needed