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

@kennyc  'Fear of obsolescence' is something that anyone who dips their toes into the waters of digital high end audio should be very cognizant of. Particularly given the speed in which digital improves and given the price asked of products like the dCS Varese. Today's SOTA in digital reproduction can be tomorrow's boat anchor in very little time. Resulting in a major loss of value compared to other areas of the high end. I think we have all seen this circumstance before, and I can see no reason to see why it would not be specially true with the new dCS Varese DAC. 

Obviously if one has to have the biggest and best at any one time, and couldn't care less about obsolescence, then what you say makes some sense. It's all budget driven, but personally I would never consider a piece like this new DAC at the money asked, regardless of how much $$$ I was worth.YMMV.

Well, the Varese undoubtedly fits well into a system costing probably $1 million and up, but most of us have to rummage around the audio basement, or perhaps the first or second floor, as our systems cost only a small fraction of the price of the Varese. Yet, my new Gungnir 2 was a marked improvement to my system, which when I add a streamer of suitable quality, would be about eight percent of the price of the Varese, which still needs amplification and speakers. Part of the enjoyment is assembling a system that yields the sound quality one seeks at a price one can afford. That is not to slam the Varese, however, as it sets a “mark on the wall” for others to try to emulate at a lower cost, much as research done for NASA and the military ends up in the products we use every day, such as the GPS system and medical advances that came out of wars of the last 80 years. So, I can say “the Varese is really something” and not feel my latest acquisition is destined for a yard sale … or A-gon. With relatively limited means and a few additional interests and responsibilities, I am quite happy with my system. Can it be improved?  Of course, but the law of diminishing returns enters the equation at a relatively low level when compared to the price of the Varese system. So, I can admire but have no need to envy.

I only wish I could go to an audio store and hear these unicorns.i live in a non audio state with low population.but I will have to live vicariously through the reviewers eyes and ears.maybe I could become a reviewer and have the factory send me stuff i could review for 6 months at a time .then I would not have to spend any money.i want to go to the aponexa but my wife is carting me off to get kidnaped out of country.enjoy the search and the music.

It will definitely give you a chance to buy last years model at a greatly reduced price.  Maybe…

I would never buy a product from a company that did that. dCS or MSB? Hmmm. They made it easy for me. 

Are you aware of the history when it comes to MSB? Maybe not a great example in this context.