The Krell SACD Standard vs. Esoteric DV-50 competition was so difficult to resolve - that I ended up purchasing both of them. The Krell SACD Standard feeds my primary two channel system; and is an absolute delight. I love what it does for SACDs and CDs - both are rendered faithfully and beautifully. I have found (after much trying) that it works extremely well with the Krell KAV280p pre-amp and tube based amplification (Antique Sound Labs Hurricane DT200s, in my case). I tried just about every two channel player I could get my hands on before making this purchase; including the much esteemed Linn Unidisk 1.1 - but found the Krell to not only be it's match, but it's better when you factor in the excellent user interface and completely flawless execution. A first class digital source that never fails to excite.
The Estoeric DV-50 is in the theater system and just plain does everything very, very well. I am underutilizing it for stereo listening actually, primarily using it as a DVD-A and SACD multichannel player. For these two duties, though - it really shines. It single-handedly elevated my otherwise mid-priced theater setup (Rotel pre-pro, 5x200w amplification and Linn speakers) into something quite a few steps above it's pedigree. The Rotel RSP-1066 happily gets out of the way in multi-channel pass-thru and the Rotel RMB-1095 gives adequate power and control over the Linn Ninka, Ekwal, Sizmik and Katan speaker array for my smallish room. I had almost given up on DVD-A as a long term format (relying on the Rotel RDV-1060 as my source), feeling like it did many things well enough, but exagerated the 'gimmicky' nature of some of the popular DVD-A mixes and had a bit of an etched top-end which irritated after a short listening session. The Estoeric DV-50 solved that problem in spades: The surround channels do what I think they are supposed to for music - provide ambiance and extension to the performance. The center channel gives rock-solid focus without narrowing the sound-stage and the main speakers do the rest.
I haven't tried the other universal player you mention - but I'm offering you my experience in the above two units: you just plain can't go wrong. For less than the price of a single Linn Unidisk 1.1 - I got one of each of these guys: and I know I'm more than twice as happy as I would have been with the Linn flagship.
If you have the luxury of a separate stereo system from your video system, you might be happier with the Krell and do something else for a surround source. If you could setup a dual-zone system you could easily use the DV-50 to serve for two rooms: it has the 5.1 outputs for the video system AND a pair of balanced (or single-ended) stereo outputs that you could easily run a long ways to another room for a killer two channel feed.
I think it is absolutely wonderful that at a fair price we can have access to such fine products. Both of these units are beautiful examples of exactly how to engineer an exceptional digital source that will please for many, many years.
