ESOTERIC X-03 VS. AYRE C5XE

I would consider Wadias new CDP'S , if like any thing old of past, they certainly will be awsome...

The mods were performed by RAM. They offer a bunch of varieties. Mine has got the US $ 1.190,00 (budget upgrade). I once heard (not in my system) the fully loaded DV-50 S with their US $ 2.790,00 statement upgrade and it simply blew away the two contenders (stock) Wadia 861 SE and Esoteric UX-1. By the way: the modded DV-50 S replaced my Accuphase DP-67 and Audio Aero Capitole MK II - and I never looked back..

Frankpiet, as the TEAC UX-1 is an AV multichannel player, it was never optimized for 2 channel audio. It is well known that its 2 channel audio performance is not state of the art. It would make more sense to compare these modified devices with the X-01 or the X-01 Limited, which are 2 channel machines. have you ever performed such a comparison?

Guidocorona: it seems like we could open up a private chat ;) I mainly compared the DV-50 S to other multichannel machines as it is multichannel too. I did compare the modded DV-50 S to my previous Accuphase DP-67 (which I find is quite sterile and uninvolving - though great resolution) and to my previous Audio Aero Capitole MK II SE (which is musical very pleasing but lacks image stability, dynamics and base line). The modded DV-50 S has it all. Never looked back but my next step up will be an Esoteric UX-3 SE or UX-1 (of course I´ll add mods sooner or later) to solve some possible shortcomings.

I,too, own an Esoteric DV-50 with the "budget" mod by ram. The improvement is amazing, and for about $1,200 bucks, a DV-50 with this mod is very hard to beat.