Esoteric DV-60

Hi. I just had an DV-60 on trial vs. a dealers DV-50 S as I´ve just upgraded from DV-50 S to UX-3 SE.

On SACD and CD I clearly prefer the stock DV-50 S over the DV-60 - which is - according to the dealer designed for optimized DVD playback. On DVD the DV-60 is - no surprise -better than DV-50 S as it offers 1080i with a Faroudja (wrongly spelled?) chip. BUT: The old DV-50 S is much heavier (8kgs.). 21,8kg vs. 14kg (DV-60).

Hope this helps.

The price difference between DV-50 S and DV-60 is US $ 0,00 (US $ 6.000,00 vs. US $ 6.000,00).
The UX-3 SE I use is US $ 8.950,00 and is worth every penny. Mine will get the US $ 2.790,00 RAM modification by the end of the year.
Esoteric gear is great for modification - probably the last one box player you´ll need unless industry changes format specifications.
As I said - the CD/SACD performance of the DV-60 is compared to the DV-50 S quite dissapointing. DVD with DV-60 is better (colours, resolution, image stability (I use Sony Bravia flatscreen and a professional series Oehlbach interconnect)). DV-50 S casework is more robust.

Audiofeil / Guidocorona: as an Esoteric owner I would say an Esoteric product needs at least 2 years to break in - just kidding. Both units were fully broken in - don´t worry ;)

the units were both spinning for 4 days 24 hours the Ayre Acoustics break in CD and a Burmester Test CD. Listening was for about four more days. So the DV-60 had about 200 hours of constant use on it. ANY item I know reaches full potential after 200 hours of constant use - even speakers with ceramique drivers.
But anybody can prove to his or her ears if they prefer the DV-60 to the DV-50 S. I don´t - but thats not important as I have upgraded to UX-3 SE which of course is better than both standard DV-50 S and DV-60 BUT my RAM modded DV-50 S smoked UX-3 SE as well as UX-1.
It all depends on what you would like to spend. Best bang for the buck is def. buying a used DV-50 S and spend some extra US $$$ on modifications and spend the price difference on a nice power cord.

Tvad: I´ll double check the units again this weekend together with a friend who intends buying either used DV-50 S or new DV-60.
In the meantime the dealer promised to me that the unit will have at least another 150+ hours of spinning break-in CD´s/ music cd´s/sacd´s on it. So we talk about 350 - 400 hours of break-in time. If the unit doesn´t perform 100% after this intense treatment -then simply throw it away as it will take a normal listener several month to reach 400 hours of use.
In the meantime I´ve send my own UX-3 SE to my favourite modder to give him the ultimate treatment..

Tvad: you´re a luky man. With my working hours I´m happy if I find an hour time per day for intense listening - as many friends of mine. So one hour per day times 400 is ... ;)
Guidocorona: I hope nobody follows my "radical advice" - but which manufacturer produces stuff that only performs at its best after hundreds of hours of use? Just imagine a BMW 650ci would only accelerate properly after 10.000km driving or a Pateck watch that shows the corretc time after a month of constant wearing.. ??
Don´t forget: most high-end units have already surpassed 30 to 100 hours of break in at the factory due to intense testing and listening tests.

DV-60 vs. DV-50 S vs. UX-3 SE update. After now roughly 450hrs. of playing time the DV-60 S is still inferior to the DV-50 S playing CD and SACD and still far away from a UX-3 SE performance. Regarding DVD-video DV-60 is quite a bit better than DV-50 S and more flexible.

Sorry guys I have to apologize. DV-60 was used on wrong polarity. Problem is fixed and DV-60 is now as good as DV-50 S on CD/SACD and better on DVD.

I didn´t spent to much time comparing the video capabilities. In short: DV-60 is def. better than DV-50 S on video. DVD-A was better with UX-3 SE - although I just compared two DVD-A´s (Kraftwerk and Michael Jackson).

Polarity is something electrical.. My Esoteric dealer found it out when joining one of the listening sessions as he was confused that I still preferred the DV-50 S to the DV-60.
To be honest - a modded DV-50 S is stillmuch better than a stock DV-60 ;)