Esoteric DV-50: Any cdp's Significantly better?

711,

Please, please..you already made your disdain of Eldon and Audiomods well known in a previous post. I think everyone here knows how you feel! I also think everyone here knows you are willing to put your "money where your mouth is" to find the best digital.

I'm sure you will be part of the final shoot-out and a major contributor as soon you will own two of the principal units everyone on this thread wants to see included in the shoot-out.

I'd appreciate your assistance in this matter. Spewing additional venom towards other modders serves no purpose. Additionally, since the APL 3910 is the best digital you've ever had in your system (your words)and you're enjoying the music, why do you care what Audiomod's has to say?

I envy you because I'm not there yet. But I can assure that once I do find that special cdp that makes me happy I could give a rat's *** what anyone else says about me. I will leave this thread, desist with demoing cdp's and just fade into the sunset smiling 24-7 knowing I will be happy listening to my music.

AVGURU

Eldon,In my case.I was excited,when I saw AVguru and 711
got together, to my surprise they both live here in
Illinois,I beg them to invite me,this is not prearrange
to manipulate the outcome 100 percent.AVguru and I
decided to tell the truth, to give some information
to audiophile who are looking for CDP.You can email
1markr and Dolfan because of this thread Dolfan is
very happy and 1Markr got the chance to borrow mine for
2 days, and I got a chance to meet Him a very nice guy
with a very good system.I guarantee you AVguru is so
unbias even Mark,711 states that He likes the SonyModwright
and was blown away, but He thinks there is no black
background, both AV and I, disagree.I also guarantee
you.Iam not on Dan payroll,the guy wont even give me
discount.You think with the hours I drove and spent
on this shootout, Iam at least entitled a discount.
But I made it clear to Dan,the CDP he mod for me is
more than enough.I dont think Dan can afford to pay
He doesnt charge enough.
Eldon, If indeed your CDPmod will show up, it will get
a fair review also.Trust me, email me I will tell
you more.Let me tell you, Iam always careful not to
destroy people livelihood.I take no offense.
Enjoy the music.

Eldon,
Sweet deals from Alex? I'd like to know your "inside" sources. Where was the supposed sweet deal when I was ordering the 3910 last month? I must have missed his sweet deal. In fact I got nothing, zero discount from Alex. The only "deal" he gave me was that if I didn't like his 3910, he would refund me 100%. That's letting his work do the talking and I am 100% happy with it.

Jose.

Eldon,

I take great exception to your comments that this post is run by "Alex supporters" and that your products wouldn't be given a fair accounting via a shoot-out. You are making unfounded assumptions and short changing the integrity, intelligence and intentions of everyone involved in this thread.

While it is true that there are a few people who have been more vocal than others in supporting and promoting Alex's products, those few do not represent the majority of A-goners contributing to this thread. I receive many e-mails every week from people who are asking about different mod's and searching for information. I have referred some of them to you, as well as Underwood Wally in Georgia, Great Northern in Minnesota, Dan Wright in Seattle and a host of others that I'm aware of.

Richard, I just ran a post today addressing my concerns about the direction of this thread and asking those contributing to adhere to new rules. Did you not read it? Are you saying that I was being disengenuous when I made my comments?

Furthermore, I publicly stated in my comments that I planned on contacting you tomorrow and asking for more information about your mod's as well as possibly asking you to send me one of your units for audition purposes.

Richard, right now you are not making a very good case for anyone to want to do business with you or try your product.
This is your chance to shine and show us what a great product you make. Before I started this thread I was biased against the mod industry in general. I felt it was a rip-off to pay someone to take a mid-fi unit, mod it and expect that it could match or beat the performance the performance of a high end player from an established manufacturer. I beleive a lot of people on this thread felt that way.

If you'd bother to read the entire thread you would know that the general consensus now is modded units offer outstanding performance and offer a better value than most if not all the established players. We have determined that mods from Exemplar, APL and Modwright sound better than the Esoteric UX1 which retails for $13,000. Other units that have been bested by the modded players include Electrocompanient 1 UP, Ayre CX-7, Classe CDP-10 and the Arcam CD 33T.

Richard, this is your time to shine. It is high time that modders get their just due and recognition for making some of the finest, most musical cdp's on the market. I don't know of any other thread on Audiogon which has taken the time to do such extensive comparisions between modded units and mfg'ers.

Yet, instead of embracing this thread or at least trying to take advantage of the opportunity to provide information about your products, you come in ranting and raving and making "assumptions" about all the participants and accusations about our integrity and whose getting paid off by Alex. I can tell you that Alex has not paid me ANYTHING to post favorable comments about his product. And I'm the person that has written most of the detailed reviews on this thread!

Richard, you are making yourself look very bad on a national stage. You come across as a jealous, bitter person who is mad that someone else is getting an unfair advantage and special treatment. But that is not the case. And despite the unfavorable initial impression you have made on most of the participants on this thread I am still open to including your unit in our upcomming shoot-out and write a subsequent review.

If you'd like to discuss this opportunity in more detail please contact me via my A-gon e-mail and we can talk. However, I am kindly asking you not to post any more comments on this thread if your intent is to continue attacking 711 and others who you perceive to be biased.
We are trying to maintain a constructive and positive forum that will help audiophiles make informed decisions!

AVGURU (MODERATOR)

Avguru, as Moderator of this thread, let me ask you a fundamental question: Is it acceptable for Richard Kern to post a statement that basically accuses those who have liked and tout the APL mods as being shills and have, in effect, being bribed to tout for him by discounts in return for favorable posts? I may be a stickler and old-fashioned, but let me tell you: (1)If I had been one of those claiming to like/prefer/admire APL mods, I would file a libel/defamation suit for character assassination against Richard in a heartbeat; (2) He did so after you asked for decorum and no ad-hominems; (3) A blanket "told by inside industry sources" is hardly proof, poor inuendo and a discredit to him; (4) If his accusations are true, and how can I know what he really knows as facts, I urge you to pursue this to the fullest, viz. his assertion that APL touts have been given any special dispensation to support his products; if you discover this, they disclose this immediately or be ejected from the forum and A'gon. It is now morally and, possibly legally, imperative for Richard Kern to substantiate those accusations. If I was Smilin711, Kern would be subpoened already. (5) It is totally unacceptable and against every tenet that A'gon stands for, to have as successful thread as this besmirched by accusations of blatant dishonesty against posters by a competitor unless he is prepared to back up his statements with full details. (6)I dont own, nor have heard an APL mod, but intend to hear for myself in my own home, how it sounds against the full Meitner DCC2/CDSD combo and have communicated with Alex regarding specs, price, etc, at length. Our e-mails can be made public. The price was as quoted everywhere on this forum, in fact, higher, because I am interested in balanced outputs, no quid pro quo was mentioned or even hinted at, nor was writing about the product anywhere and the correspondence was as professional as befits any 2 individuals, one buying and one selling; (7) I have always detested blanket accusations of dishonesty against posters simply because they espouse a product; however, not everybody is 100% honest, every idiot knows that, but the likelihood of groups of crooks rather than individual bad apples, strains the common sense and decency of normal, honest A'goners, who are not intellectually challenged or so street-dumb as to be misled by obvious deceipt. (8) I have never met Smilin711, Alex nor Richard Kern, so am not vouching/implying anything about any of their character traits; (9) What I am saying, however, is that it is unacceptable to not only imply, but to state that the APL fans are on the take: Dishonest;Crooks;Scoundrels - is not only offensive, but probably actionable. (10)If and when I get my APL3910 and, after comparing it to the full EMM gear, if the otcome is favorable to APL, and I publish it, and Kern accuses me of being a pimp, we will go to court, me with my e-mails to and from Alex and my cancelled check. Count on it.
Avguru, you have done an outstanding job so far. Now fix this.