Thank you to all who responded. To solve the mystery, it was determined quite quickly that the "whirring" noise was indeed a mechanical fault. Even my DV-50S is dead quiet. Esoteric, to their credit, has been lightning-quick in making arrangements to replace the unit.
Esoteric UX-1: How "noisy"?
To all of those who have an Esoteric UX-1 or X-1: can you hear the disc spinning from, say, 10 feet away? I realize that Esoteric has built a massive assembly but on quiet passages I can distinctly hear the "whirring" of the platter. It's distracting, to say the least. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.