Esoteric dv 60 vs Lexicon RT10 informed opinions?

thanks for the reply Holenneck, just trying to make sure the purchase is worth the expense.

Hi I just upgraded from a RT-10 to DV-60. I used the RT-10 for 2 years and liked it, but it is not in the class of the DV-60. The picture is 3D like and sharp, The sound is much tighter in the bass and the higher frequencies are much cleaner and detailed. Also the seperation is much better, plus the 60 has way more features I would say buy the DV-60, You will love it.Robert

I used to own the RT-10 and still feel it is horribly under-rated. Too many people dismiss it as a Pioneer knock-off when in my system it was clearly a better player than most.

Chadnliz - you have a great system, and one that will no doubt make differences in players more noticeable than many folks will ever realize. I used to own the Focus 20/20s [you have posted in my virtual system thread - I now have Whispers] and with a variety of amps and certainly never a pre-amp as good as your ARC, so I feel I know where you are coming from.

When I did my “real “ cdp evaluation, I wanted a universal with stellar video too. In the end, I found my demands to be impossible to meet, and went with an external video processor to handle the video side, and an Esoteric DV-50 player for the audio. I had in my system [either owning or demo-ing] the RT-10, a Denon 3910, a Modwright 3910, a Krell Showcase, a Simaudio Orbiter, an Integra DPS 10.5, and a Meridian G-something-or-other (98?). There may have been others, I just cannot remember. Some were good with video, but not audio and visa-versa. Some weren’t good at either…

The Meridian [a transport] was a real surprise to me as to how good it was with CD playback only. The Orbiter was a little “easier” sounding than the DV-50, but the DV-50 has the required multi-channel level controls I need(ed).

I definitely preferred the DV-50 over the Lexicon though, but I really can’t remember why. I don’t know how the DV-50 compares in audio to the DV-60, but the DV-60 video is said to be a big improvement…which was badly needed.

Another option might be to have Dave Schulte at the Upgrade Company work on your RT-10. He transformed my DV-50 into clearly the best player I ever had in my system.

Where are you located? Is there any chance you can demo the DV-60? I would strongly encourage to do so rather than taking anyone’s word one way or the other…

thanks guys for the great replies, as I said in original post this is for my fathers system, and the Lexicon has never really stood out as being deficient in any particular area, his system is smooth and pleasing, first generation and older or poorely produced recordings can be bright and shrill, so his system is smooth and at the same time revealing, I have heard a version of the Esoteric but again I cant recall if it was music or a multi-disc player.
Is the Esoteric more analytical in nature?, I see comments on tighter bass, cleaner and detailed wich if it were me (who listens to a fair amount of popular music) than this may trouble me, but as for my dad he listens to mostly Classical and Opera....more "Organic" music where detail may be a huge bonus not a concern, I also see that it gets high marks for being a better video performer but that is a smaller issue in this situation.
A friend here on Agon was in the hunt for a new player and it came down to the DV60 and the Ayre unit, he went with the Ayre because it offered no video and for his needs it was a more purist unit for audio only, as far as video output goes I used to think that DVI and HDMI were better signals for video but I was given a dealers opinion that he thinks Component video is still best, what do you guys think about that? It seems that HDMI would be handy for casual viewing from Satelite into a Plasma monitor but Coax digital would be better for audio and perhaps DVI for video......is DVI OR Comp video the way to go for best results?, because this could cloud the issue as the Lexicon RT10 only has S and Comp video output.
Anyway again thanks and I may contact you in private if that is OK. Chad

HDMI/DVI vs Component...it depends IMO…

I think it depends not only on the particular player's output, but the display too, and what is doing all the processing [de-interlacing and scaling] for whatever kind of display [CRT, LCD, DLP...].

For example; I tried the DV-50S briefly thinking the DVI output would obviously be superior. However, I went right back to the standard DV-50 because the image from my DLP projector onto a 9' screen was better via component.

However, now my image IS better via DVI since I have added an iScan video processor in between the player and the projector. The DV-50 would output a 480i signal from its component outputs to feed the video processor. The image quality then was second to none. Now I use an SDI output, but I am not so sure the hefty fee to add the SDI was worth it.

It's never simple...

Regarding audio, I listen to just about everything...not much polka or rap, but most anything else. I still like the DV-50 as an all around performer, but I also really enjoyed the RT-10 while I had it. Since The Upgrade Company has worked on my player, I can’t imagine, or afford, anything that would better it. It now sounds totally different/better. This is why I made the suggestion above.

Again...all this is just my opinion/experience...