TBG,
Both 711 and I came to the conclusion that although the Exemplar 3910 was a very good player (great detail, openeness, accuracy, etc) it was not the most musical of the players included in the shoot-out. 711 feels that the APL 3910 (even before the new clock)was the most musical unit. In my opinion the Dan Wright modded Sony (9000ES) was the most musical and best player. After now listening to the modded Sony in two other systems since that shoot-out I'm even more convinced that it is the better unit.
The players in the shoot-out were Alex's APL 1000, DV 50,
Modwright Sony 9000ES, APL 3910 and Exemplar 3910. I currently have the Esoteric UX1 in my posssession for a home demo and hope to face it off this week (with 711 and others from our thread present) against the APL 1000, 2 modded Sony's and the APL 3910. 711 sold his Exemplar.
Regardless of system matching, one can still determine via shoot-outs which player is the better unit. I agree the best unit may not "ALWAYS" sound the best in a particular system due to system synergy and matching issues, but it should 8 out of 10 times if its clearly superior.
UHH, I just have one question for you, TBG. Exactly when and where was it that you compared the Exemplar 3910 to the Esoteric UX1? On what system? And exactly how did you conclude that the Exemplar 3910 was superior to the UX1? Or did you make the "assumption" that it was better than the UX1 since its better than the DV 50 (which I agree it is)?
See, the reasons we do these shoot-outs is because people make statements and then can not back them up with any proof (via written results or an open listening forum with many attendees)that one unit clearly outperformed another.
Everything that we've auditoned so far has been documented in my thread.
Just so you know, my initial listening tests (1 day only) of the UX1 (vs. my clear recollection of the Exemplar sound)leads me to believe that they are very close and share more similarities than differences. If in fact the exemplar is better it is only by the very smallest of margins. And in SACD I can already tell you the Esoteric is better..hands down. Which leads me to believe that when we bring in the X01 it will be the best of them all but not necessarily the most muscial due to a lack of a tube output stage.
Keep tuned to our thread. I won't have time to comment anymore on this thread but I did want to make at least one rebuttal.
AVGURU
Both 711 and I came to the conclusion that although the Exemplar 3910 was a very good player (great detail, openeness, accuracy, etc) it was not the most musical of the players included in the shoot-out. 711 feels that the APL 3910 (even before the new clock)was the most musical unit. In my opinion the Dan Wright modded Sony (9000ES) was the most musical and best player. After now listening to the modded Sony in two other systems since that shoot-out I'm even more convinced that it is the better unit.
The players in the shoot-out were Alex's APL 1000, DV 50,
Modwright Sony 9000ES, APL 3910 and Exemplar 3910. I currently have the Esoteric UX1 in my posssession for a home demo and hope to face it off this week (with 711 and others from our thread present) against the APL 1000, 2 modded Sony's and the APL 3910. 711 sold his Exemplar.
Regardless of system matching, one can still determine via shoot-outs which player is the better unit. I agree the best unit may not "ALWAYS" sound the best in a particular system due to system synergy and matching issues, but it should 8 out of 10 times if its clearly superior.
UHH, I just have one question for you, TBG. Exactly when and where was it that you compared the Exemplar 3910 to the Esoteric UX1? On what system? And exactly how did you conclude that the Exemplar 3910 was superior to the UX1? Or did you make the "assumption" that it was better than the UX1 since its better than the DV 50 (which I agree it is)?
See, the reasons we do these shoot-outs is because people make statements and then can not back them up with any proof (via written results or an open listening forum with many attendees)that one unit clearly outperformed another.
Everything that we've auditoned so far has been documented in my thread.
Just so you know, my initial listening tests (1 day only) of the UX1 (vs. my clear recollection of the Exemplar sound)leads me to believe that they are very close and share more similarities than differences. If in fact the exemplar is better it is only by the very smallest of margins. And in SACD I can already tell you the Esoteric is better..hands down. Which leads me to believe that when we bring in the X01 it will be the best of them all but not necessarily the most muscial due to a lack of a tube output stage.
Keep tuned to our thread. I won't have time to comment anymore on this thread but I did want to make at least one rebuttal.
AVGURU