Is Esoteric's DV50 any good?

[JerryDelColliano]

I know some people who use it as a reference source but with no Blu-ray its hard to take them seriously.

Is this a worthwhile investment for a top performing system JUST for DVD and CD?

Thoughts?

[kennyt]

Well, I own an Esoteric DV-50s, as does Jim Swantko after hearing my thoughts on it, both of us are very happy with the player, Jim's serves as a two channel source, mine does SACD/DVD-A/CD. Since I bought my Toshiba XA2, that has been what I watch SD DVD's in (when I have to watch SD!)

I bought mine shortly after they got into this country, and SACD and DVD-A were starting out. I don't know what I'd buy now, I LOVE the EMM Labs gear, but I cannot spend that kind of cash for CD/SACD, it just doesn't make sense.

[JerryDelColliano]

So for you it serves as an Audiophile source but those sources are a basically all dead for music.

Could you just live with your Meridian G-Series player?

[kennyt]

Well, I have the G98DH's too, though it's been sitting in the box since I sold my 861...

The G series doesn't play SACD's, so yes, but no. I love the meridian combo for DVD-A and CD, given how often I use SACD, I could live with it alone, but since I own both, I keep them both in the mix when I can.

I still have ~40 or more SACD's, so I like to have something to play them in. Basically when I had them both hooked up, it depended on what I was doing, sometimes I'd use the DV-50s when I just wanted to drop a disc in and have it play no matter what format. When I knew I wanted CD or DVD-A, I'd use the Meridian.

[Silver Supra]

Prior to the DV50 I used a Linn Unidisk 1.1 which I would say was a bit more analog sounding, although it didn't provide the detail the Esoteric does. The Esoteric is a MUCH better built unit too.

Running the DV50 through tubes in my pre-amp really gives me the best of both worlds. I do not regret the switch from the much much pricier 1.1 to the DV50. Both are fantastic players.

[deacongreg]

I think if you have a decent collection of both sacd`s and dvd-a`s, then the Esoteric is a good audiophile source. It will play any format, which makes it quite functional, is built like a tank, sounds great, though the Meridian is excellent, there is no need for two players, what else could you ask for?

We really don`t know what is going to happen with Blu-Ray and high res music. So, I think we just need to take a watch and see attitude with that. Enjoy what you have, and move on.