Myself and Ben were treated to a tour at dCS, to see just what goes on at the dCS factory and whether the rumours are true. Are these masterpieces are actually built by humans or little goblins with pockets of wonder dust that they sprinkle over their products.
The Factory is very unassuming from the outside, a typical UK industrial estate just north of Cambridge. We are welcomed enthusiastically and the coffee flows immediately, very nice it is too. No time to waste we are shown into one of the meeting rooms on the 1st floor where David Steven MD introduces himself and talks all things dCS. What a greeting and how nice to have David take time from his busy schedule to introduce dCS and many of the staff to us.
So straight off on the factory tour, downstairs on the ground floor we are greeted by Colin, production director, who guides us step by step through the build process of each unit be it Bartok, Rossini or Vivaldi. He then shows us how each unit is brought into the build area, a single box which contains every element, looks like a long week ahead for someone.
Technician midway through the build process. Ever wondered why your precious dCS box is so reliable, well each technician is trained for a year before they are let loose on their own build. Even then no one takes on the responsibility of building one of these units alone and each screw and fixing, in fact every stage, is double checked by another technician which is quite incredible. Even as the unit is ready to be placed into it’s packing ready for shipment, a third person has to inspect it just to make sure it’s up to the standard dCS expect. It’s even known for David to come and undertake this process himself.
Rack upon rack of part completed units ready for testing in one of the bespoke testing machines that dCS have had to design so that every unit is tested to their satisfaction.
Did I say dCS have designed all their own test equipment, I know but they have.
Even the fascias are a work of art, being machined from a single billet of aluminium, produced to dCS exacting standards. The thing with aluminium is it is relatively soft, and imperfections happen, but you can’t just take a slice off to remove the imperfection or the case won’t fit correctly and this will not do for dCS. So any imperfections and the raw aluminium is rejected.
Then we come to LINA, these come in in the same way as the other dCS items however for those that have not seen. The printed circuit boards are manufactured with flexible ribbon connections which allow the PCB to be folded and dropped straight into the casing in one piece. The PCB’s are by far the most complex dCS have created so far and when laid out as below look absolutely stunning.
We have built up quite an appetite after that, and after lunch we head into LINA lounge a quite amazing setup which is portable and which the guys take to shows to provide a really nice atmospheric area for you to listen to what LINA can do. Trust me if you haven’t heard LINA do yourself a favour and get to your local dealer to have a demonstration, it’s truly exceptional.
Part of the setup can be seen above, anyone who went to CanJam London last year may have seen this in it’s full glory and no doubt it will be there again this year.
We are also treated to seeing the Legends Bartok which was a very limited run and given to some really special contributors in the music industry.
Finally we are treated to dCS listening room. OMG each stage from LINA through Vivaldi, from Non Apex to Apex was demonstrated so we could hear the changes at each and every level. My god if anyone has any doubts on the impact Apex has made to their line up has just got to do this listening test, it’s laid bare and is clear as day to the upgrade Apex has brought to the dCS system. Once we reached the pinnacle of the three box Vivaldi system, comprising Upsampler, Apex DAC and Master Clock the sound was just sublime. Now the music flowed with a naturalness and ease of sound that made you sit in awe, leaving you in no doubt this is as good as digital can be.
Just one more track please….
Just one more track we keep saying but alas our time has come to an end at dCS, but what a day, what a setup they have here and what a musical tour de force they have produced no matter what your budget. If you can achieve the heady heights of dCS then you know you have achieved musical perfection. You can of course come to visit us here at The Audiobarn where we not only have LINA, Apex Bartok and Apex Rossini, but the full three box Apex Vivaldi on permanent demonstration for you to hear what dCS can deliver in your own system.
A big thank you to all at dCS that put up with us on the day, and I for one am really going to miss that listening room setup.