EARS,
Sorry to break the bad news to you, but, regardless of what you may be reading, the Esoteric DV-50 and Linn Unidisc are a cut above the Onkyo DV-SP1000, sonically, on all formats.
I own the Linn Unidisc and my friend brought over his Onkyo DV-SP1000 to compare it to mine.
The Unidisc was clearly superior to it on all formats, and especially on DVD-AUDIO.
Another friend has an Esoteric DV-50 that we compared the Onkyo with. The Esoteric was also Clearly superior to the Onkyo on all formats, but the Onkyo was closer to the Esoteric on SACD than it was to the Linn.
The video on his Onkyo was slightly better than the Unidisc or Esoteric, but that was about it.
The Onkyo simply sounded too dark, distant, and rolled off in the highs, compared to the two others.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the Onkyo. It was a beautiful, VERY well built machine, with video to die for, and it had excellent audio especially compared to others in its price range and above.
But, in comparison to the Linn and Esoteric, it did have some pretty noticable shortcomings audiowise.
My friend has since sold his Onkyo and bought a used Esoteric DV-50.
Sorry to break the bad news to you, but, regardless of what you may be reading, the Esoteric DV-50 and Linn Unidisc are a cut above the Onkyo DV-SP1000, sonically, on all formats.
I own the Linn Unidisc and my friend brought over his Onkyo DV-SP1000 to compare it to mine.
The Unidisc was clearly superior to it on all formats, and especially on DVD-AUDIO.
Another friend has an Esoteric DV-50 that we compared the Onkyo with. The Esoteric was also Clearly superior to the Onkyo on all formats, but the Onkyo was closer to the Esoteric on SACD than it was to the Linn.
The video on his Onkyo was slightly better than the Unidisc or Esoteric, but that was about it.
The Onkyo simply sounded too dark, distant, and rolled off in the highs, compared to the two others.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the Onkyo. It was a beautiful, VERY well built machine, with video to die for, and it had excellent audio especially compared to others in its price range and above.
But, in comparison to the Linn and Esoteric, it did have some pretty noticable shortcomings audiowise.
My friend has since sold his Onkyo and bought a used Esoteric DV-50.