Esoteric DV-50 vs the Newer Esoteric players?

Alpha,

I have heard the Esoteric SA-60 & XO 1 Limited. I felt they were great players but a bit too analytical for my taste. Conversely I also have owned a Marantz SA 7S1 and it was a very musical player. The only fault I had with it is when I changed to a tube based system the Marantz did not synergize with the tube system. It sounded bland and boring. In summary they are, to me, on opposite ends of the spectrum. Marantz on the warm and musical side and the Esoteric on the cool side of Neutral.

Hope my .02 cents helps.

Here is a recent comparison between old Esoteric vs new ones vs Marantz;

http://desirableaudio.blogspot.com/2009/05/music-sweet-music-esoteric-x-03-sacdcd.html

hope it helps

Thanks guys on the info.

Alpha3, I am a musician and I have used the Marantz SA 11S-1 CD player for several years and I love it. It is very musical and plays RBCD wonderfully and a great SACD reminds me of what I hear in an excellent concert hall
Each year manufacturers come out with a new product that may be somewhat better than the model that one has at the time, but IMO a person could spend a fortune trying to keep up with the latest and greatest component. I personally prefer to have components that are musical, then all that I do is listen to the music.
Carter

Newer Esoteric gear sounds great, but will still be somewhat system dependent. With my tubed amps, preamp and DAC, my Esoteric modded UX-1pi sounds phenomenal. Very detailed but also musical and organic, without a trace of edginess.

Additionally, more often than not, a newer piece with Esoteric will be more advanced and upgradeable than their older pieces. I would try to demo a whatever you are considering and you might even consider calling Esoteric and tell them your system and what pieces you are considering. I have always gotten excellent support along these lines from them. I can give you an excellent contact there if you decide to go that route.

Fplanner2000,

Im interested in the X-05 player,I hear that it is the
warmest sounding of the Esoteric players. I would like to speak to your contact at Esoteric about the X-05.

I prefer a warm sound with good detail.Im more in the
Musical camp than the Truth sound camp.

No problem - send me an e-mail.

Fplanner2000,

Thanks very Much!

I agree with Violin. I've owned a stock Esoteric DV-50S and a DV-60 with $3K worth of RAM mods. I sold them both when I heard my current CDP, a Marantz SA-11S1 with $3K worth of pcX mods. To my ears, the Marantz was more relaxed, and sounded much closer to my analog rig. The Esoteric's were very revealing, but I found that they were too revealing for me. They rendered about 70% of my cd's as unlistenable due to grain and hash in the high's. Well recorded cd's sounded very good, but you'd be surprised at how many cd's are poorly recorded and/or mastered.

Yes, I suppose you could say that the Marantz masks some of the music, but it never has me grinding my teeth and even allows me to enjoy digital. That's just my $0.02.
FWIW, I have not heard the newer Esoteric's such as the X-05, so I cannot comment on them.

Cheers,
John

Which Power Cord would be a good match for the DV-50?