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I was present at the premiere of the dCS Vivaldi digital stack for North America this past weekend at Ears Nova. The stack is $135,000. More info - http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/
The speakers were Altairs from Rockport Technologies. They are $97,500 a pair. Driving the Altair speakers were Centaur 500 Watt monoblock amplifiers from Constellation Audio. They are $48,000 a pair. The pre was also from Constellation Audio.
I'm not adding the price of everything else, but when all said and done, it's around $500k for the system. Serious stuff!
A few points.
1. I would like to hear the Vivaldi stack with different speakers. The Rockport Altairs were very impressive to see and hear. They have an imposing profile, despite not looking that imposing from the front. Nevertheless, they weigh 515lbs, so these are BIG speakers any way you slice it. I would like to hear what the Vivaldi stack would sound like in a different combination. The Altairs can push a lot of air though, that's for sure. Still, I'd love to hear the Vivaldi with different speakers just for comparison. Great to see speakers of this magnitude however.
2. Initially, the music choices weren't really that great for my personal taste. Of course, this has no bearing on the quality of the Vivaldi, but I would have demoed songs with more dynamics. There was a lot of tame piano/classical pieces and vocals used in the demo early on. The dCS guys were great though, and asked if we had requests. I asked if they had hi-res HD Tracks jazz. He put on John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme', and the system came alive. This was it. Finally, something with a lot more oomph. People who stepped out stepped back in to listen. The toe tapping commenced. It's good to have a varied music sampling to get the full breadth of what the gear has to offer. I would have loved to have heard some hard rock, or something funky like James Brown, George Clinton etc.
3. I was able to move around, and I found that this made a big difference. Now, where you sit will make a difference in listening in general. Initially, I was sitting towards the right of the room. I made my way to the back, in the center/sweetspot on one of the couches, and that made a big difference. This brings me back to point one. I'm not sure if the Rockport Altairs are very directional speakers, especially with side firing woofers, but certain speakers can envelope a room effortlessly, and not make a move that's a few feet away (albeit in the sweet spot) that noticeable, which just emphasizes my earlier point of hearing the stack with different gear just for comparison sake.
4. Aesthetically, the Vivaldi stack looks very nice, but I actually think the aesthetics of the Puccini and Paganini look better. I know, that's a minor quibble.
Please note that these are just my observations, and not a harsh critique. It sounded good! The Vivaldi stack was great to see and listen to. The dCS guys were great, hospitable and friendly, as was everyone at Ears Nova. It really was a treat to see and hear a system of this magnitude. Now, someone give me half a million dollars and some loft space so I can construct a similar system.
PS - Not related, but there was a Basis Audio Signature turntable there that I fell in love with.
I took a few quick pics.
dCS Vivaldi
Rockport Technologies Altair Speakers
Constellation Audio Centaur Monoblocks
Basis Audio Signature turntable
The speakers were Altairs from Rockport Technologies. They are $97,500 a pair. Driving the Altair speakers were Centaur 500 Watt monoblock amplifiers from Constellation Audio. They are $48,000 a pair. The pre was also from Constellation Audio.
I'm not adding the price of everything else, but when all said and done, it's around $500k for the system. Serious stuff!
A few points.
1. I would like to hear the Vivaldi stack with different speakers. The Rockport Altairs were very impressive to see and hear. They have an imposing profile, despite not looking that imposing from the front. Nevertheless, they weigh 515lbs, so these are BIG speakers any way you slice it. I would like to hear what the Vivaldi stack would sound like in a different combination. The Altairs can push a lot of air though, that's for sure. Still, I'd love to hear the Vivaldi with different speakers just for comparison. Great to see speakers of this magnitude however.
2. Initially, the music choices weren't really that great for my personal taste. Of course, this has no bearing on the quality of the Vivaldi, but I would have demoed songs with more dynamics. There was a lot of tame piano/classical pieces and vocals used in the demo early on. The dCS guys were great though, and asked if we had requests. I asked if they had hi-res HD Tracks jazz. He put on John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme', and the system came alive. This was it. Finally, something with a lot more oomph. People who stepped out stepped back in to listen. The toe tapping commenced. It's good to have a varied music sampling to get the full breadth of what the gear has to offer. I would have loved to have heard some hard rock, or something funky like James Brown, George Clinton etc.
3. I was able to move around, and I found that this made a big difference. Now, where you sit will make a difference in listening in general. Initially, I was sitting towards the right of the room. I made my way to the back, in the center/sweetspot on one of the couches, and that made a big difference. This brings me back to point one. I'm not sure if the Rockport Altairs are very directional speakers, especially with side firing woofers, but certain speakers can envelope a room effortlessly, and not make a move that's a few feet away (albeit in the sweet spot) that noticeable, which just emphasizes my earlier point of hearing the stack with different gear just for comparison sake.
4. Aesthetically, the Vivaldi stack looks very nice, but I actually think the aesthetics of the Puccini and Paganini look better. I know, that's a minor quibble.
Please note that these are just my observations, and not a harsh critique. It sounded good! The Vivaldi stack was great to see and listen to. The dCS guys were great, hospitable and friendly, as was everyone at Ears Nova. It really was a treat to see and hear a system of this magnitude. Now, someone give me half a million dollars and some loft space so I can construct a similar system.
PS - Not related, but there was a Basis Audio Signature turntable there that I fell in love with.
I took a few quick pics.
dCS Vivaldi
Rockport Technologies Altair Speakers
Constellation Audio Centaur Monoblocks
Basis Audio Signature turntable
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