esoteric products

"With a consolidation of Onkyo, among others, they have been quoted as saying that Esoteric accounted for only 1.9% of the audio division of TEAC!!"

Actually, that's a lot.

"The 1.9% mentioned was IN COMPARISON to they're most recent group of acquired brands as a percentage of return...NOT a good number!
Azjake"

Again, I say not necessarily. Percentage of return is one thing, profit is something else entirely. Esoteric, even though its owned by a bigger company, is still a separate business. And as long as the Esoteric brand returns a healthy profit, that’s always a good thing.

Another factor not to be overlooked, is access to designs and patents not currently available to the parent company. They can use Esoteric technology in any of the other divisions with no penalty. A good example of this type of thing is Arcam/dcs. dcs developed the ring dac, which ended up going in Arcam CD players as well. And if that's the case, you would have to look past the 1.9%. Esoteric may be used to add value to some of the other brands.

"Oppo, and I would not be surprised if they enter other products in their line. Today's top of the line Oppo decks beat anything in the esoteric line.
Buconero117 (Threads | Answers | This Thread)"

I find it highly unlikely you took an Oppo and put it next any Esoteric player, let alone the entire line. So, the only reasonable answer would be that you're guessing. (Reading magazine reviews and looking at spec sheets don't account for listening experience.)

"03-16-15: Ptss
Axes anyone?It's beyond me why anyone (besides a tacky competitor) would cast aspersions on the corporation or the generally fine products?"

I think you may be missing something here. No one's bashing Oppo. This is a statement from one of the other posts.

"Today's top of the line Oppo decks beat anything in the esoteric line.
Buconero117 (Threads | Answers | This Thread)""

And my answer to that was this.

"I find it highly unlikely you took an Oppo and put it next any Esoteric player, let alone the entire line. So, the only reasonable answer would be that you're guessing. (Reading magazine reviews and looking at spec sheets don't account for listening experience.)
Zd542 (Threads | Answers | This Thread)"

The only way that comment would be valid is if the poster tried all of those components, and rated them accordingly. It has nothing to do with Oppo. If the same thing was said about a different brand, I would have made the same comment. I have nothing against Oppo. They make great equipment and have an excellent reputation. I might even buy the new headphone amp/dac they just came out with.