The new dCS Varese DAC...it is so good that all others are now relegated to history??

I’m sure it advances the art of sound, as the review concludes. It’s the same as with newer, more advanced car models; they don’t negate the cars already out there.  But they are an advance in driving. And products simply co-exist. 
 

DCS has always had very expensive digital, even back in 1996. So this is not a surprise to me. But apparently it is to others. it’s not something I would buy, but if it sounds magnificent, I can understand somebody showing out for it. No skin off my my nose - or my wallet. 
 

Given Jacob’s extremely good hearing, I am sure that the DCS is all its cracked up to be. But, as with any company reaching for the stars, they will make some new discovery and implement it.

Why all the snark? I can’t afford this  particular stack, either, but I don’t begrudge those who can. Isn’t the goal (for some of us) to reproduce a credible illusion of the live experience (if there even was one)? I’m not certain I’d buy a 254k stack even if I could (again) afford it, just because I’d rather use that on a first class trip to Thailand and five or six other countries!

But I’d buy a DCS Bartok Apex for the low, low price of only...7k !! DCS is one of the really great digital products on the market. There are others.

Yes, I’m sure people who know NOTHING about DCS aside from this ONE story are people who  react off the top of their head and come up with conclusions before knowing all the facts. And the fact that DCS has been in business for 40 years and never had a kerfluffle before now means nothing to them. They’re inclined to mob mentality. By that point, facts mean nothing. 

DCS products are excellent, and always have been. I am no fan of their pricing, but I do see them as a luxury brand. Goldmund is a luxury brand, too, only they actually say that they are.

What’s interesting is that even the luxury audio brands were not this expensive 30 years ago. After 2000, the pricing  of speakers and electronics seemed to get crazy. Ah, well... And I’m sure the more expensive a component, the more rabid some posters become. It’s not logical. Not in the least.

I would suspect that the tape player would see off the new dCS  Varese in all areas.

I'm sure it would!

$250,000. That’s a quarter of a million! Should we only decide what to purchase with excess money in the audio world? Wait. Who am I talking to? Who is DCS talking to? If somebody wanted to show me their system and it had a $250,000 digital front end, I think I’d want to walk out the front door. It’s a disgusting amount of money to spend on a digital front end. I don’t care how good it sounds or how rich you are, if you don’t have people in your life who could use some of that money, well, talking about stereos is beside the point. You need a life.  

It would seem they have a life. Just not the one you approve of.