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

Apparently this thread has taken on a life of its own ;). I have not had nor taken the time to read all of it, but I gather that things got ugly at one point.

Regardless of all of that, I just wanted to clarify and update information about our Denon mods as I have not been very good about releasing information. We have just honestly been buried and I have been finallizing the mods.

We did take a solid-state modified and a tube-modified Denon 3910 to CES and we auctioned the tube unit. I believe that 'Smilin' won the auction.

I do not foresee us offering a volume control on this unit at this time, remote or otherwise. Unlike the Crystal chip, the Burr Brown chips do not have an on-board volume control (I don't believe) and I don't have a good R/C solution for adding a volume control otherwise.

Our Solid-State mod is NOT just a parts upgrade and op-amp swap, but rather is a re-designed analog stage. It is quite good and offers an option for those who are not tube-inclined, for Class A performance.

The tube mod will likely ultimately have an outboard power supply. I have built the first unit with internal supply, but am not satisfied with the installation due to the weight of the 'iron' used and the strength of the chassis. I also believe that getting the high-voltage supply outside of the chassis is superior sonically. We are using toroidal transformers, so EMI fields are not so much the issue, but there are other limitations here in my opinion.

I will be finallizing the CES unit for 'Smilin' and I am sure that he will post his impressions.

For the record, I hope that we all remember that this is about the music and bettering our enjoyment of it. Alex, John, Allen, Richard and I all do good work and have taken different approaches to the ultimate goal of superior music reproduction.

Enjoy the music!

Dan

Smilin will be receiving a great unit. I heard it at CES! Very nice.

dammit - i've been trying not to chime in on this thread, but here i go.

it's no secret that i feel that these shootouts are generally worthless and that mob mentality it strongly at play in these sessions. i've stated it elsewhere, made my points, and still feel that way.

the reason i'm posting now is because i do feel that alex is being attacked a bit here. i don't know alex like the other modders might, but let me state for the record my experiences with him:

he's answered every single one of my emails to him, which i'd gladly post here. all of my questions have been general information-type emails concerning my busted EMM Labs modified SACD-1000. yes, he's tried to pitch me on his stuff, but i can *not* blame him. he's a businessman and he's taking time out from his schedule to answer my idiotic questions, so i fully expect him to recommend his stuff. the professionalism he's shown in helping me with my problems has been fantastic.

while we're on the SACD-1000, let's not forget that it was alex who was first able to isolate and repair the defective parts. he worked with Andreas from EMMLabs and a guy with philips, if i understand it correctly to get the problem solved. granted, this was in his best interest because he can charge epople to fix them, but the fact remains that even after philips stopped supporting their own product, he continued to work on them.

lastly, i feel i should divulge that i have just entered into a business deal with him, at full price i might add - to repair and mod my meitnerized SACD-1000 that has a faulty MACE chip. were it not for his dilligence, i'd not e able to enjoy my EMM gear without shelling out the 7k for a CDSD.

i haven't heard his mods and i don't imagine i will hear any of his modded players for a long while, as i don't know anybody in san antonio with one - but i think that if he's gonna get accused and trashed in this thread, i should at least point out my experiences with him.

i'm not implying that he's a saint or that we need to start erecting statues, but i do feel that these attacks are unfair.

and before anybody asks - this is completely unsolicited, blah, blah, blah. i do value my integrity (because god knows i'm short on dignity) and a quick search of my posts i would hope would show this.

also, i feel i should add that when i first started having problems with my phillips, i sent emails out to all of the popular modders on this board. not all of them even bothered to reply, including one who i have seen attack alex on other boards.

i may not know much about modding, but i do understand customer service, being a business owner myself.

again, bottom line: don't believe what you see, hear, read, etc - figure it out for yourself. it's the only way you can be sure.

end rant.

Lazarus28, Amen brother!!!! Well said.

711- Since you have mulitple CDPs, why don't you loan your APL 3910 to Lazarus28, so he can tell us how it compares to his EMM Labs gear.