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

I’d like to thank Brian again for hosting this event. I think everyone will agree on at least one thing - we had a lot of fun doing this. From a personal perspective, I accomplished the two things I had hoped for…1) make new friends, 2) make a good showing with the modified DV-50.

This event solidifies what this hobby is all about. I have a new “to die for” CD list. Also got to listen to two pieces on my “must hear” list, the Blowtorch preamp and Soundlabs. I came away impressed by their strengths although it took awhile to adjust to a different type of presentation than at home…..or was it the wine working? Just kidding Brian, you’ve got a great setup. The organ/choir piece was just incredible!

As far as the shootout, I’m taking the same stance as you, Brian. It is not a copout simply because it is the truth. These players were all real close in overall performance. I don’t think anyone expected this going in. Our scorecards covererd most of the critical aspects of each players performance from pace & timing to depth, balance, inner detail, vocal presence, etc, etc.. I believe we voted on a total of 10 categories, ranking each from 1-5. My scorecard had the players separated by just one point each after totaling the columns.
In the end, the owners of each player, including myself, thought that their player held the edge in the competition. If I’m not mistaken, the other three present chose one of each of the three players as their favorite. It can’t get any closer than that. And no, my sister didn’t choose mine. :-( You may think “of course you are going to pick your own player” . I don’t think this shootout was that simple. It was so close that in the end, it came down to each player’s unique sonic signature. As an owner, this is one of the reasons you bought or kept the player to begin with. As a bystander, you preferred one presentation or another. There just was not a clear winner in all of those categories that you usually use to judge equipment.

Specifically about the DV-50…... I know there is agreement by all that the stock Esoteric will not compete against these modified players. Both the Denon and Sony are at a level that is easy to call “reference”. I want to SINCERELY thank all of the modifiers for their efforts in taking this hobby to the next level.

The good news for Esoteric owners…..The DV-50 has a lot of growth potential! Mine is competing with the best with only $795 in total modifications. It has both the Superclock 3 and power supply modifications done. The great thing is that there is many more mods that can be done if you want to take it to potentially a higher level. I’m contemplating doing this.

As far as the modifications, you can email me if you want specifics. As far as the modifier, it is Doug Jesse at Reference Audio Mods in Warren Michigan. We all know that the parts choice and use has everything to do with the sound. Doug has done an outstanding job in choosing the right components for the Esoteric.

Like I said earlier, my hats off to these guys who are putting a lot of effort into advancing the hobby. You don’t have to sell your CD player to move up in performance. And this includes far less expensive players. I know there are many that have that hesitancy about upgrades. I had the same reservations, but will now highly recommend them.

Thanks to the Chicago group for a great time!

In response to Tvad:

Fair question. Here is how I scored the three: Esoteric DV-50 (46); APL 3910 (47); Modwright 9000ES (48) out a "perfect" score of 55. We used a subjective scale of one being worst, and a five being the best, across 11 categories. If I could imagine better or was just a little bit unsatisfied, I didn't score a five. And no, I don't pretend that all of us were in agreement on the scoring categories or exactly what each category referred to.

Before I elaborate, let me say that this was fun even if exhausting. I heard some top-notch CDs, a couple of which I will obtain in future, through some really great equipment. Three players are plenty to compare in a day. I don't see how you could fairly compare more, as your brain needs a break after a while. We did listen to some SACD tracks as well, but none of them especially rocked my world.

To those that say you have to listen to each component in your own system, I have to ask: Do you ignore all reviews? If not, why not? The reviewer's system will never be an exact duplicate of yours and even if it was, your room will be different. Second question: How, if you are not a reviewer, are you going to get three or four or six top-notch universal players into your system for a lengthy test period? Modders don't loan out their equipment to the world at large. I suppose you could buy two at at time, A/B them and then unload one at a loss here on Audigon.

I appreciate Brian's making this audition, or shoot-out, possible. It was worthwhile, even if not as rigorously controlled as some might argue it should have been. And it was just a nice social event after the scorecards were completed. So don't dismiss the idea of a couple of audiophiles getting together to compare gear. Try it. You might find you like it. It might not change your mind, but it is worthwhile.

After a short warm-up period, we picked six tracks and played about two to three minutes, per track, on each player after first listening to each track. That is, cuts 1-6 were played back-to-back on one unit; then the same tracks were played in the same order on the second unit; then on the third unit. At the end, we took a couple of selections and went directly back and forth between players. Brian's sound meter needed batteries so the volume equalization was done by ear and group consensus, and yes I am sure we were a little off.

What each player did right:

The APL Denon 3910 had the clear edge on detail retrieval, bass, and depth of soundstage. On an early cut, from Brian's Nils Lofgren CD, it was a real treat. Steve made no bones about the fact that *bass* is really important to him. I don't see Steve trading his player for one of the other two. I thought, however, the APL 3910 was just a notch below the Modwright 9000ES on vocals - a little dry. And there was something slightly fatiguing to my ears towards the high end in the APL unit. Sorry I can't pin it down better than that, but by a slight margin I preferred the Modwright unit, even though it clearly wasn't the "best" in each category.

The Modwright scored high on overall "musicality" and didn't fall too far in any other category. It's bass could be better, tighter, but it's satisfying. The Modwright wasn't offensive in any category, had a nice soundstage, good midrange, treble, vocals. One other person thought the Modwright was a tad warm. I liked the unit on female voices. I thought there was just a little less detail than on APL 3910, but not much. Very enjoyable, very easy to listen to.

The interesting player, to me, was the Esoteric DV-50. It was neutral, as compared to the other two players, in that it didn't have big plusses or minuses that were easy to identify. It was a solid performer but left me with the sense that it was just a bit damped sounding as compared to the other two units. By that I mean it sounded just a little less "in the room" and vibrant. Tom thought the unit sounded more exciting in his home system, so I don't think I am off in this regard. The Esoteric unit had good rhythm and pace, good bass, and was right behind the other units in the other categories. Bon commented that, compared to stock DV-50 units, Tom's modified unit had a large soundstage that didn't collapse. I would agree.

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In the weeks leading up to this listening session, there was an incredible amount of vitriol expressed in this thread. That's unfortunate. I had never met Bon, Steve, or Tom and his sister before yesterday. They are all into music and very gracious. No one seized control of the event or demanded that everyone vote a certain way. Brian lent some discipline to the exercise, but that's about it. Steve ruffled some feathers coming into this. But after meeting him in person, I don't have any problem with him. I think he's a little like the Rodney Dangerfield of audio in that he is very vocal, and I can see how he could set some up-tight audiophiles on edge. But his APL 3910 is really good and I don't believe that he is into this for anything other than his own enjoyment in the privacy of his home. Steve really likes music and it's not more complicated than that. And the rest of us of enjoyed the music as well!

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That's how I scored it, and why I scored it the way I did. Brian has laid out the equipment that was used; on a different day, with different cords/interconnects/speakers/amps -- sure, everything would have sounded a little different.

Thanks again to Brian, who donated his time and made his excellent system available. And thank you Steve, Bon, and Tom for making the effort and sharing your excellent gear for an afternoon.

- Eric

I agree with Tvad,

we have been waiting for quite a while for this shootout, and no one has so far come clean with the details. I am sure thee is a signature to each one which pople can relate to and make decisions possibly as to which one for them is the best.

I get the feeling everyone got on too well, and politeness has been the order of the day. I am sure 711 smiling will soon make his voice heard loud and clear.