It's time for The Barenaked Ladies to rewrite their hit, If I Had a Million Dollars – because I reckon that as professional music fans and makers, if they had that much cash they'd want the newly launched dCS Varèse. It's a hi-fi stack in much the same way as a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport is a thing you can drive to the mall.
In short, it's a new piece of kit ready to sit pretty in our occasional Money no Object series (my favorite offering in recent memory? That would be TEAC's elite DAC and headphone amp, but I digress).
Based in Cambridge in England, dCS has been making extremely high-end hi-fi products for over 30 years and launched the world's first 24-bit home DAC in 1996, effectively kicking off the era of hi-res audio. And according to the firm, Varèse is the pinnacle of its technical achievements, even more high end than its prestigious Lina, Bartók, Rossini and Vivaldi products.
dCS Varèse: why you'd buy it if you were a billionaire
There are four key products in the dCS Varèse system: the Varèse Core, the Varèse User Interface, the Varèse Mono DAC and the Varèse Master Clock. A fifth product, a CD/SACD transport, will be added in 2025.
The Varèse products use a number of new technologies, including a patented new clocking technology, a bespoke interface called ACTUS that carries audio, control and timing signals between the individual components; and a new version of the dCS Ring DAC that the firm says represents the biggest change to their DAC architecture in a generation. There are also new circuit designs and new power supplies that reduce jitter, lower the noise floor and reduce crosstalk.
dCS says that listeners "have noted an even broader, more expansive soundstage; an increased sense of effortlessness, musicality, and rhythmic flow; even more tangible vocals; improved texture, timing, and impact of bass instruments; and enhanced speed and tunefulness at lower frequencies, among other qualities."
Varèse made its debut on static display at the Hong Kong AV show last week and will travel to other events worldwide throughout 2024. Active demonstrations will take place in the UK and US from September 2024 onwards and shipping will begin in late 2024.
And the price? I'm glad you asked. The Varèse components are:
- Varèse Core: £75,000
- Varèse User Interface: £20,000
- Varèse Mono DAC: £90,000 (pair)
- Varèse Master Clock: £32,500
Those are UK prices – a quick currency conversion tells me you're looking at $279,000, or thereabouts, for the stack (which is around AU$422,000, before any duties or shipping) – and the sole UK distributor is Absolute Sounds. I'm sure if you asked them nicely they'd be able to transport the Varèse components to one of your mansions outside the UK. Or you could always send your butler to pick them up, in the helicopter…
I'm kidding, of course: I've been fortunate enough to hear some of my very favorite records in listening rooms with kit that cost more than my house, and I'm very jealous of anybody who can have this kind of sound system in their home. You can find out more about the Varèse and its innovation on the dCS website.
