Esoteric DV-60

rest assured that the DV-50(S) is built very well and will easily handle many more hours than just 400.

Hello Dlbd - I'm not questioning the overall build quality of the DV-50S. Nor do I think that a DV-50S can't handle 400 hours of total playing time. That's not at all what I was referring to.

The post I responded to recommended "break-in" via 400 hours of UNINTERRUPTED playback. I do not think it was designed for this. I don't care how good the build quality is, it's still an electromechanical device with a limited lifespan. 400 hours of uninterrupted playback isn't break-in, it's accelerated wear.

So, if this has been the standard "break-in" regimen that most DV-50S owners have followed, I won't be buying a used one. That was my point.

Sorry guys I have to apologize. DV-60 was used on wrong polarity. Problem is fixed and DV-60 is now as good as DV-50 S on CD/SACD and better on DVD.

Frank, how was the UX-3 SE on video and audio compared to the others?

I didn´t spent to much time comparing the video capabilities. In short: DV-60 is def. better than DV-50 S on video. DVD-A was better with UX-3 SE - although I just compared two DVD-A´s (Kraftwerk and Michael Jackson).