Hi -- as a fellow owner of the Vivaldi stack I'm not sure what you're looking for with this change. At this level of equipment it's not clear that path A is necessarily better than path B or C -- instead each approach may sound different and your preferences are going to be more a matter of personal tastes and system synergies. I've heard the full Esoteric stack in shows and sometimes thought it sounded great, other times awful. The same is true of my experience with DCS gear in shows
Nevertheless if you do want to change what you have to do is hear the Esoteric in your system and over an extended period. Any reputable dealer at this level will loan you a set to test at home -- you'll need to put down a deposit of course.
However if I was in your shoes the first thing I'd ensure before this is that I'm getting absolutely everything I can out of the equipment I have. It's a paradox of high end digital that it is very accessory sensitive -- in my case I've got add ons to my Vivaldi that cost almost as much as I spent on the 4 box system. In no particular order have you
Finally there are so many options on the Vivaldi that if it's a change you're looking for all you have to do is change the filter and mapping 😏 I currently prefer Dual DSD, Filter 5 and Map 1 but others swear by PCM, Map 3 and different filters -- all of which only goes to show that without having a piece in your system you've no idea if it will meet your ideal of "best"
Hope this helps
Nevertheless if you do want to change what you have to do is hear the Esoteric in your system and over an extended period. Any reputable dealer at this level will loan you a set to test at home -- you'll need to put down a deposit of course.
However if I was in your shoes the first thing I'd ensure before this is that I'm getting absolutely everything I can out of the equipment I have. It's a paradox of high end digital that it is very accessory sensitive -- in my case I've got add ons to my Vivaldi that cost almost as much as I spent on the 4 box system. In no particular order have you
- Upgraded the power cords and installed a power conditioning solution
- Upgraded all interconnects including clocks to Transparent Ref XL or above level
- Installed all pieces individually on a (ideally) ball/floating rack system, potentially going so far as exploring using Herzan platforms under each piece
- Explored footers under each piece (I use Marigo F8)
- Explored damping on the top plates (I have Shakti stones over each transformer and 2 on the transport, the second over the disc mechanism)
- Installed a grounding solution on each piece
- Capped every unused outlet (Telos caps are good)
- Considered using a CD mat (again I use Marigo)
Finally there are so many options on the Vivaldi that if it's a change you're looking for all you have to do is change the filter and mapping 😏 I currently prefer Dual DSD, Filter 5 and Map 1 but others swear by PCM, Map 3 and different filters -- all of which only goes to show that without having a piece in your system you've no idea if it will meet your ideal of "best"
Hope this helps
