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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
avguru OP
116 posts
 
711,

I am definitely looking forward to hearing the Denon at my home. If in fact it sounds better than my Esoteric DV-50 (I'm talking redbook here) then bye-bye DV 50. I love my DV 50 for redbook but I'm looking for something that's a bit warmer and more musicalwithout sacrificing the incredible detail, resolution and transparency I enjoy from the DV 50.

I am going to miss running things balanced, however. The Exemplar modded Denon does not have balanced outputs. Despite what many people say about balanced only "appearing" to sound better because its louder, I know better. Balanced (short and long runs) brings blacker and quieter backgrounds, increased soundstage depth (not width) and deeper bass. I've proved it time and time again.

We will run the Exemplar Denon 2 ways...analog out and digital out. Analog out will put to test the quality of the analog output stages, op amps and internal dac of the Exemplar to see how it compares to the DV 50.

Then we will go digital out to my Anthem D1 Statement pre/pro..which has state of the art digital processing and automatically upsamples any incomming digital signal to 24/192. By switchingback and forth between digital and analog via the Anthem remote we will be able to hear which unit has the better dac...the Exemplar-Denon or the Anthem.

Interconnects (both balanced and rca) will be the incredible Nirvanna Audio SX and for digital we will use Kimber D-60 and Tributaries top of the line silver digital. I will use stock power cords and disconnect my line conditioners so we will hear the componenents "au naturale" with no outside colorations.

Rest of the system will include the Cary Cinema 5 amp (5 x 225)and B&W N803's. All speaker cables are AZ Satori Shotgun.

This ought to be fun. Let's get it on!

AVGURU
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
AVguru, after you perform the test using stock chords, you may want to put specialty chords and conditioners back in place. There are two good reasons for this:
1. Stock chords of Esoteric may not be the same as Denon chord.
2. The two units may benefit from improved chords in different ways. As you will apply upgraded power chords in the end, you may as well take them into consideration during your test session.
avguru OP
116 posts
 
Guidocorona,

You bring up some good points.I actually have two stock cords for the DV 50 so I will use one of them on the DV 50 and the other on the Exemplar Denon. My rationale here is the stock cord for the Esoteric is at least as good as the Denon's and probably better. So they should be on equal footing.

I really do want to hear the traits of each player without the added benefit of power conditioners and after market chords. I agree that after the "stock comparisions" it would be nice to add after market cords to each to see how they affect the performance of each player. The problem is invariably one cord will probably affect or benefit one player more than another. I have yet to see a power cord affect two different cd players in the exact same manner...though I will prefice this statement by saying I've only used a total of five different after market power chords in my system. So there maybe others out there that are consistent from player to player.
irishdog
88 posts
 
I have had the DV-50 for about a year and a half. It beats out my previous Sony SCD 777 ES and Dodson 2l7 combo on everything including well-recorded redbook CD's. The only universal player that outperforms it is the Linn Unidisk 1.1. The Linn has more detail, along with a very musical sound, but it is twice the price, and has had some serious "bugs" which I understand are mostly solved now.
jmpwme
106 posts
 
Can't wait to hear the results of the test.
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