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Oh, the sound!
When the time finally came to write this section—the part of the review that, if you're like me, you may have eagerly jumped to after the introduction—I looked at my notes and was a bit aghast. How was it possible that after weeks of listening in both the UK and at home, I only had two pages of notes?

Only once before had I experienced something like this. In 2024, shortly before the start of High End Munich, I sat in row 6 of Vienna's acoustically fabled Musikverein as Riccardo Muti conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in the 200th anniversary performance of…

Varèse really started with us as a team saying, "If there were no constraints and we had infinite time and infinite budget, what could we do? Where could we go? How can we make a system that is simple to use, easy to set up, and super reliable? How can we support higher sample rates? How can we support streaming services? How can we make it easier to control…

The Varèse Core, pictured above—photo by Paul Miller—is the largest component in the system. All calls between boxes are integrated here, and the Core generates the system clock if the external Varèse Master Clock is not connected.

As the system hub, the Core is home to all the upsampling, the primary digital filtering, and a good deal of the modulation—truncation and the noise-shaping—but not the bit mapping, which happens on a dynamic basis within the Mono Ring DACs. More about this later.

All data, clock, and other signals are…

Description: Five-box streaming digital music system—two Mono DACs, Varèse Master Clock, Core, User Interface/display—with remote control, proprietary ACTUS (Audio, Control & Timing Unified System) connectors, Mosaic ACTUS control app, optional CD/SACD transport, and I/O interface. Roon Ready. Enables PCM rates up to 24/384 and DSD up to DSD512. MQA coming.
Dimensions: Core—9.7" (244mm) H × 17.5" (444mm) W × 17.3" (437mm) D. Weight: 73lb (33.1kg); User Interface—5.2" (131mm) H × 17.5" (444mm) W × 17.8" (450mm) D. Weight: 32.2lb (14.6kg); each Mono DAC—5.2…

Digital sources: dCS Vivaldi APEX DAC, Vivaldi Upsampler Plus, Vivaldi Master Clock; Innuos Statement Next-Gen Music Server and PhoenixNET network switch; Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModule Deluxe (2); Broadcom/Avago AFBR-5718PZ 1GB SX-SFP, Gen 5 Fiber Optic modules; Nordost QSource linear power supply (2); Sonore Audiophile Linear Power Supply; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS with Ferrum Hypsos linear/switching hybrid power supply; Linksys MR9000 mesh router and Arris modem; Apple 2023 iPad Pro and 2017 MacBook Pro laptop with 2.8GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB…

With the separation of the Varèse's core components—not least the evolution of the Ring DAC into two mono, differential arrays—we would expect to witness some uplift in technical performance. And indeed, comparisons with the Vivaldi APEX DAC show incremental gains in S/N ratio, distortion, and low-level linearity. Specifically, while the 5.88V maximum output (in the Varèse's top 6V mode) has not changed, and the sub–1 ohm…

Achieving that key objective requires achieving another one: How do we make more people aware that our industry exists?

Long ago there was a saying. People (read:…

Steve Mishoe of True Source Audio Distribution originally introduced me to Shindo Laboratory and DeVore Fidelity—brands that shaped my listening sensibility and critical framework. His colleague Steve Cohen often assists with system setup and calibration. In fact, he helps with every review I write for Stereophile, fine-tuning gear and speaker placement and acting as a sounding board.

Their latest import from Japan, G.I.P. Laboratory’s 506 and 4165 horn-loaded, field-coil loudspeakers ($82,000/pair), commanded attention for reasons well beyond personal ties. Along with the…

The Black Pearl XL SE ($19,000) “introduces our proprietary output transformers, expanding frequency response and enhancing transient detail, built on a robust chassis, Gen 6 power supply, and an ultra-low noise floor,” according to the Ampsandsound press release. The amp produces 8Wpc into 8 ohms and offers a bandwidth of 10Hz–24kHz (–2dB at 1W).

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