Disc Players

‘There were several reasons why we decided to do the Vivaldi One,’ says dCS CEO David Steven. ‘Firstly, I wanted to celebrate 30 years in business, because much as we feel and act like a start-up at times, to remain at the cutting edge of digital for this long is no mean feat. Secondly, the pace of change in this business is getting faster, and since Vivaldi launched it seems like all our R&D has been focused on streaming, user interfaces, new formats and sample rates.

‘I wanted the Vivaldi One to be the last great one-box disc player. It doesn’t quite have the same beguiling sound of the full Vivaldi stack, despite coming close to its magic.’ And dCS won’t be doing a one-box Rossini, ‘This is a unique venture,’ says David. ‘There are some audiophiles who love the simplicity of a single-box player and would never buy a Vivaldi stack. They were a key audience, but this was one product we didn’t design with a specific customer in mind.’

The special finish options were an interesting new avenue, he adds. ‘We have always wanted to experiment with them and the Vivaldi One was perfect because it wasn’t a new product in the sense that we were manufacturing using known variables – metalwork, electronics, etc. It has a longer lead time than other dCS products so we felt more confident in working with suppliers to produce new customisable finishes. Some of the them are spectacular, including a black anodised and copper piece for London’s Spiritland music venue.’