The dCS Verdi is a grandly expensive ($14,995) CD/SACD transport, introduced in 2001 and intended for use in the world's finest domestic replay systems. (dCS also…
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Giuseppe Verdi gave the world more than two dozen operas, some good sacred music, and one string quartet. He also provided the young Arturo Toscanini with one of his first big breaks—conducting the singing of "Va pensiero" at his burial procession—and gave the flagship consumer product from England's dCS Ltd. its name. That the latter two gestures were posthumous and unwitting does nothing to diminish their poetry.
But does upsampling sound better simply because it makes it easy for the best (digital) filters to do their job? Does it work, as some have suggested (footnote 1), because the comparatively shallow filtering that's part of the package leaves in the information stream some high-frequency artifacts that consequently act as another round of dither? Or is it something else?
I don't know. Neither do the good people at dCS—although they say they're working hard to find out.
Fun later
The two products at hand comprise a sort of economy version of the full-monty dCS front-end. I…
But you must bear in mind one unsmall matter: All that goodness depended on a number of things, some of which may confound your expectations:
• Without the slightest doubt, the combination worked better at playing music when the Delius was in Master mode—overriding, as it were, the word clock in the datastream and that produced by the Verdi La Scala. The former didn't so much sound different (although imaging junkies may not agree, given their heightened sensitivity to such things as stage dimensions) as simply allow me to relax and be fooled into thinking I was hearing strings of notes…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Verdi La Scala: Conjoined-twin-box CD/SACD transport. Formats supported: CD, CD-R, CD-RW, SACD. DSD & upsampled "Red Book" output jacks: IEEE1394. "Red Book" and downsampled DSD output jacks: XLR, RCA, BNC, TosLink. Word-clock input & output jacks: BNC.
Dimensions: 18.15" W by 5.4" H by 16.2" D. Weight: 37.4 lbs.
Serial number of unit reviewed: VLS098152.
Price: $14,995.
Delius: Single-box, two-channel digital-to-analog converter. Formats supported: multi-bit LPCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192kHz sampling rates; single-bit DSD at 2…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Linn LP12 turntable with Naim Armageddon power supply, Naim Aro tonearm; Rega Planar 9 turntable; Supex 900 Super, Linn Akiva, Lyra Helikon Mono cartridges; Audio Note AN-S2 step-up transformer.
Digital source: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplifiers: Fi, DNM 3C Primus.
Power amplifiers: EAR 890, Lamm ML2.1 monoblocks, First Watt F1.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989, Lowther PM2A in modified Medallion horns.
Cables: Digital: various dCS. Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Nordost Valhalla, homemades. Speaker: Audio Note AN-SPx,…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Because Stereophile has already reviewed both the dCS Verdi SACD/CD transport (in April 2003) and the Purcell upsampler (in January 2001 and April 2003), I didn't feel it necessary to measure the Verdi La Scala, which incorporates the functionality of both units in one chassis. I concentrated, therefore, on the Delius D/A processor, feeding it DSD-sampled data from a Verdi transport and 16- and 24-bit LPCM data from a computer, using an RME Digi96/8 Pro soundcard and a TosLink S/PDIF connection. The Delius had no problem locking on to data sampled at rates up to…
Several issues back, we reviewed rather enthusiastically a pre-production prototype of this preamp. The original was an unprepossessing-looking device on two chassis, interconnected by a 3' umbilical, with a squat little preamp box and an even squatter power supply with humongous cans sticking out the top. We averred that it sounded nice. The production model is so nicely styled and functionally smooth that we wondered if it might not be another Japanese product. 'T'ain't.
The Berning TF-10 is what may justifiably be described as a basic preamp with frills. it has no tone controls, but…
The high end is open, delicate and downright exquisite, sounding as if it has no upper limit. Instrumental timbres are reproduced flawlessly, without a trace of hardness or edginess, and depth, detail and inner definition are for all intents and purposes indistinguishable from that of the original program source. The low end is full and rich, yet as taut and detailed as the best we have heard from all-solid-state preamplifiers, and the entire middle range has that textureless liquidity we have only heard previously from tubed preamplifiers that fell short in various other ways. In other…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Hybrid (tube/transistor) basic preamplifier; 3 magnetic phono inputs, 5 high-level inputs including 2 Monitor, 2 Tape outputs, 2 Main outputs, tape cross-copy switch (1-to-2, 2-to-1), separate Input Source and Monitor switches, stepped volume control with vernier, remote Muting switch, 1 switched and I unswitched AC convenience outlet.
Dimensions: 19" W by 12" D by 3?" H, overall.
Price: $1395.
Manufacturer: Precedent Audio Products, Inc., 306 E. Oliver Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 (1979). David Berning Co., 12430 McCrossin Lane, Potomac, MD…
Sidebar 2: Manufacturer's Comment
What can I say but "Thanks" for the fine review. I would also like to express my gratitude to Precedent Audio's Murray Zeligman, whose many hours of critical listening to pre-production prototypes contributed to the performance of the final production version of the TF-10.
Since initial production—one of which Stereophile had for testing—we made a minor circuit change which effects a very slight improvement in the reproduction of detail. That improved version is the one we have been delivering to our dealers.—David Berning