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
Don't be so "envious", my nirvana never lasts too long. I'm already thinking about the next machine.(s) Nice write up. Glad you mentioned the importance of warm-up time. Ideally, a cd player should be left on overnight to sound optimum. Some players even continue to change sound over several days (ala- wadia) The SA11 is much more detailed, transparent and sparkly than previous Marantz units, from what I am told. Again, after it is warmed up. When I had DV-50, it sounded great until 5 hours warm-up time had passed. At that time, the sound became quite full and rich. High freq extension and detail lost air/transparency. That type of sound just drives me crazy. I'm not willing to accept that for 5K or 3k for that matter. It is more a critical view on the cd medium than any particular player. Just about every cd player I have ever heard tends to sound a bit midrangey and closed in on top. When you test SA11 again, be aware that there are 3 filter options and a noise shapper on/off. This player tries to mimic the delicacy and nuance aspect of recorded music. This type of sound (there are other players like this) usually comes along with a softer bass. They do this so that the bass energy does not cover up the detail. When I compare cd players in my system, it is always against the turtable. In almost every single case, the turtable is more open and extended on top. So far, only Wadia and this new Marantz sound even more open. The Wadia didn't cut it because it sounded skeletal and amusical IMO (bass and prat were also weak on wadia). I enjoy your enthusiasm and look foward to seeing what machine you ultimately settle on to replace the Teac.
Jactoy,

Thanks for adding needed detail about the dealers set-up. Regarding the Thor mono's, remember we disconnected those and did the majority of our listening with the Hovland Amp. Is that correct? Also, how much did the Thor pre-amp cost? I don't remember. Finally, sorry about the spelling of the cables/interconnects.

You are correct that they had many room treatments (echo busters, bass traps and others). So you can say the listening tests were were under almost ideal room treatment conditions.

Jactoy, please feel free to add any comments you may have regarding the listening tests. People on this forum are probably tired of just hearing my comments/observations!

AVGURU
Reb,
Do you have any sense of how the SA-11 compares with the Marantz DV-9500? What are the filtering options? Is upsampling switchable? Thanks.
Reb 1208,

Thanks for the info. I didn't know about the three filters or the noise shaper. The dealer should have told me about that. Since the DV 50 has similar filters which I do change on a regular basis (depending on the type of music played) I understand the importance of using these correctly. The Marantz may be one of those machines that needs to be taken home for a demo to properly evaluate its performance. Ideally, all equipment should be taken home if possible but some units need it more than others to make a proper assessment.

When I go back to the dealer this week I will give it a more detailed listen, double check the polarity issue and play with the filters.

Regarding the DV 50, I've never experienced the sound changes you describe after the unit stays on for a considerable length of time. When my dealer sold me the DV 50 he did tell me from his own persnonal experience (and Tac's recommendation) is that the DV 50 be given 200 hours of break-in time in EACH FORMAT! I don't know if you were able to do that.

Anyway, I'm just glad we're talking civilly again as I consider you a valuable assest towards my search for digital nirvana audio and I value your input. If you feel the Marantz equals your turn table rig in terms of openess on the top end then that says alot. Are you talking in SACD or CD playback? Also, how do you like the Marantz in SACD? Is the Marantz still breaking in or are you past the break-in period?

Please keep me and this forum posted regarding your findings and successes!

AVGURU
...AVGURU wrote: "The DV-50 transport (while not their famed VRDS one) is still clearly superior to the off the shelf one denon uses (either Pioneer or Philips). The 3910's build quality, while decent, is nowhere on the level of the DV-50's. Finally the DV-50 upsamples to some ungodly frequency rate (1,700) while the Denon (even with the mods) doesn't upsample at all."

The DV-50 uses unmodified (except for the clamper) off the shelf Pioneer transport as found in the $150 Pioneer 563a and 578a. This transport is also used in their top of the line DV-59AVi. It is nice transport, but it is not better than the Denon transports. Denon DOES NOT use off the shelf transport, they use their own, it's really nice and more solid than the Pioneer transport found in DV-50.

Sure, DV-50 enclosure is nicer than the Denon, but I doubt that DV-50 DSP is anywhere near the Denon. The Denon does not upsample because there is no theoretical or practical benefit of upsamppling the CD. The Denon expands the 16 bit CD data to 24 bit using World's best Analog Devices 32 bit floating point SHARC Audio DSP. The same DSP takes care of the HDCD decoding too.

I have a few DV-50 owners who have contacted me asking if I can implement the mod into their players. One of them is sending me his DV-50 next week. This should be interesting!

I hope you do not mind my intrusion! Please feel free to ask questions.

Regards,