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Esoteric DV-50: Any cdp's Significantly better?

Is there are anyone out there who has compared the Esoteric DV-50 to a number of dedicated red book only players (or other universal's) and found one that is SIGNIFICANTLY better?

I stress significantly because in my humble opinion the redbook playback (if comparison unit is just a cd cd player only )must be significantly better to justify losing DVD-A, SACD and DVD-Video capability.

I keep hearing there are better one box solutions and being a die hard 2 channel fan I would sell my DV-50 if I found a player in the same price range that sounds significantly better. But every time I do an AB comparision to other well respected units the DV-50 has slayed each and every one.

So far, it has eaten the lunch of the Classe CDP-10, Ayre CX-7, Linn Ikemi, Cairn Fog Vers. 2, Cary 306/300, Arcam DV 27A and CD 33T, Myryad CD 600, etc. It even betters a Sony SCD 777ES/MF Tri-Vista 21 transport/dac combo that I previously owned. I'm only comparing the DV-50 to single box cd or universal players, but I just wanted to mention the Sony/MF combo. I'm sure there are some dac/transport combo's that will handily beat the DV 50.

Some may say that the DV 50 should beat all the above because the of price point ($5,500 vs. average price of $3,000 for the above players). But I disagree since conventional wisdom says that stand alone players (especially with the pedigree of those mentioned above) should produce better redbook than a universal player trying to be a jack of all trades. Only the DV 27A does video plus audio. By the way, I was very impressed with the 27A as just a cd player. Of all the above I would say the Ayre was the best.

Next on my list is the Electrocompaniet EMC 1UP and the Resolution Audio Opus 21. However, I must tell you I am really impressed with the DV 50 and all the great reviews are absolutely true. I've noticed that many people who are using it or comparing to other players are using the RCA analog outs instead of the balanced outs. There is a significant improvement in sound if you use the balanced outs and I'm only interested in hearing comments from people who have compared it against other players using the balanced outs on the DV-50.

My system components are as follows:

B&W N803's speakers & HTM-1 center
Cary Cinema 5 (5 x 200) amp
Anthem D1 Statement pre/pro
Esoteric DV 50
Acoustic Zen Satori Shotgun speaker wire
Nirvana SX balanced interconnects from DV-50 to Anthem
Acoustic Zen Matrix reference II interconnects from D1 to Cary
No after market power cords or isolation equipment

My system sounds great! Those who comment please make sure to specify what specific improvements you heard over the DV 50 and what cdp were you comparing it against.

AVGURU
avguru
reb1208
518 posts
 
When I had one, Richard Kern also had a unit. He was not able to come up with a substantial mod due to the circuit layout of the DV-50. I sold mine and he latter sold his.

Next I experimented with some of the inexpensive universal players, including the Pioneer. Truth is that the Pioneer had some similiar sonic traits to the DV-50. Most notably a full/round macro presentation to the sound.

Transports and their associated components are obviously at a minimum, half of the sonic equation of a given machine.

There are some older TEAC units floating about that did use VRDS. Perhaps these would be a good candidate to gut out and mod.
rex
245 posts
 
Guidocorona - Teac is indeed using part of the Pioneer OEM kit for the DV-50. They use the laser assembly, some parts of the transport mechanism, and Pioneer's OS firmware.

The Pioneer OEM kit seems to be the most popular kit in the "univeral" world. A short list of companies using it:

- Ayre's upcoming "universal" player
- Integra "universal" players
- Lexicon RT-10
- the first batch of Marantz "universal" players
- McCormack UDP-1
- Onkyo "universal" players
- Yamaha "universal" players

And probably some others that I've forgotten.

Oh, and the Pioneers of course :-) BTW, the DV-59avi mentioned previously is not a Teac, it's Pioneer's top-line "universal" player.
jsala
99 posts
 
Hi Alex,

That's great the you've tried the new dac board on the 563a! What are the Tamura transformers? How do they compare with the Lundahls? How does the 563a + dac board compare with the modded 2900?

Finally, what's the output impedance of the 563a? I imagine the MOSFET output buffer gives it a pretty low output impedance. My amp has an input impedance of just 8k ohms.

Cheers,

- Jay
lemec5b2
67 posts
 
AVGURU, you completely don't get any of the technical aspects of digital audio, it would be better for all if you avoid telling these wild tales!:)

thanks for reporting your listening session..

steve
irishdog
88 posts
 
I am eagerly awaiting the new McIntosh universal player. The folks at Mac tell me that it has some significant new circuits to greatly reduce the distortion in SACD.
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