Remember the dCS Varèse Music System, the six-figure system that promised to go beyond anything that the brand had previously created? Now it has added a CD player, and as you would imagine, it is a suitably premium proposition.
The Varèse Transport plays standard CDs and SACDs, and is designed to look of a part with the system as a whole. The firm has been making CD transports for 25 years, so it has plenty of experience in the field.
The transport retains dCS's ethos of delivering ‘Only the Music’ – in other words, minimising anything that affects audio performance such as noise, distortion and vibration, while preserving all aspects of the audio signal.
dCS claims this is its quietest, lowest-vibration disc transport to date, with an all-new chassis design and the firm's bespoke ACTUS interface.
It plays Redbook CDs in their native 44.1kS/s format, and SACDs in their native DSD format. Hooking it up to the dCS Varèse Core component requires just one cable, yet provides bit-perfect transmission of audio signals, with asynchronous audio, control and timing all sent via the ACTUS interface.
This interface also lets the transport automatically sync to a master-clock signal – either that provided by the Varèse Master Clock, or if that's not present, the Varèse Core. So you don't need to manually configure the sync mode settings.
It can also be connected via the Varèse User Interface, Varèse Remote Control, or Mosaic ACTUS app, giving you more ways to control its playback.
Like other elements in the Varèse range, the Transport's top, sides and front chassis are machined from a single piece of billet aluminium. Constrained layer damping is between the chassis base and dress plates, while mechanism mounts are also milled from a single piece of aluminium with no joins or fixings. All of which should minimise interfering factors and preserve sound quality.
Inside is the same mechanism seen in dCS's Vivaldi Transport II and Rossini Transport, but with a new mounting method that further reduces noise and vibrations.
The dCS Varèse Transport is available to order now, with shipping starting at the end of September. It comes in silver or black. And the price? A cool £35,000 (around $47,000 / AU$72,000).
Which is relatively cheap, considering the Varèse Core, User Interface and Remote bundle costs £95,000, and the Varèse Mono DAC £90,000 per pair.
MORE:
See all our dCS reviews
Check out our pick of the best CD players
Building a hi-fi system? Here's the secret to matching the right components
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
