Here's what Audio Perfectionist Journal had
to say about the Verdi CD/SACD Transport and Delius DAC:Verdi / Delius - Audio Perfectionist Journal
Here's what Audio Perfectionist Journal had
to say about the Verdi CD/SACD Transport and Delius DAC:
The dCS Verdi/Delius is a state of the art playback system and that is not the only important thing going on here. This dCS system didn’t just reveal itself as an outstanding playback system. It revealed more of the vast potential of the SACD format itself than anything I’ve yet heard. The Verdi/Delius rig represents the best SACD playback I’ve heard and is also competitive with the very best CD playback systems available at any price...
Considering that it’s still somewhat commonplace for CD playback systems to cost upwards of $20K, or more, without the ability to playback SACD and/or any form of upgradeability, I think the dCS offers performance and flexibility commensurate with it’s admittedly gaudy price. Even at $21,995, the Verdi/Delius stack is what I would have if I could afford it.
Download the complete review – PDF
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Verdi
/ Purcell / Elgar -
Stereophile
The headline on the cover pretty much says it all, "IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!" The review was written by Michael Fremer (Mr. Analog, who rarely likes anything digital). His conclusion:
As far as what sets the dCS systems apart sonically, I guess it starts with the proprietary Ring DAC, continues with the math encoded on the DSP chips, and ends with the structural rigidity and quality of the parts. Whatever dCS has done here, their computational, electronic, and mechanical brilliance add up to what must be the state of the art of getting the most from digitally encoded music. But, as good as the system's SACD playback was - and it was the finest, most immediate, most musically pure, that I've ever heard - it was the dCS gear's ability to extract the maximum musicality and dimensionality from CDs that most impressed me. Yes, badly recorded and/or mastered and/or manufactured CDs will still sound unbearable. But, the good ones can now hold the attention of even those listeners most committed to analog."
John Atkinson tosses in his comments in the measurements section:
Driven by the Verdi transport, dCS's Elgar Pus offers state-of-the-art playback, not only of SACDs but also of CDs. In addition, all three dCS products are effectively future-proof. It is hard to see how digital technology can get any better than this.
Verdi / Purcell / Elgar - The Absolute Sound
The April/May 2003 issue of The Absolute Sound features this report from the 2003 International Consumer Electronics Show
dCS showed its complete, three-part SACD/CD playback system consisting of the new Verdi SACD/CD transport, the Elgar 24/192 DSD DAC, and the Purcell 24/192 DSD Digital Upsampler. This system produced what I felt was hands-down the best sound I heard at CES—sound that frankly redefined my notion of what is possible with digital music formats. The system is crazy expensive, with a retail price around $34,000, but it sounds so good you find yourself haunted by mad thoughts of cashing in IRAs or hocking the family car, or…you get the picture.