Personally I definitely prefer Meitner over Esoteric and dCS. Esoteric does excel on inner detail, but Meitner is far better in terms of transparency and just a general sense of openess. In way it sounded if Meitner had a larger sound stage, both left to right and front to back. Also better at transients & decay. Esoteric was v good at resolution, inner detail, dynamics but lacked that sense of naturalness if you will. dCS goes even further in terms resolution, detail to my ears but again lacks the special air around the instruments or color of timbre. In a way, I guess Esoteric and dCS sound like GREAT digital but Meitner approxiametes analogue LPs. At least that has been my own experience so far.
Zanden, Reimyo, I have not tried but hear great things about them: however they do not provide SACD capability, which of course may not matter to you. Zanden though if you want the full set up will cost you!
I also think that not only is the Ayre 5xe (2 channel universal) very very good indeed, but among all the high end players best value for money. Personally prefer it over Esoteric. I already have the Meitner gear, the Ayre is my top choice for second system I am considering building.
Whatever the case, you really need to audition them yourself. At this level, all are exceptionally good, and a lot depends on your own tastes.
