Teac Esoteric DV-60
Stereophile Class A+ Rated Universal Player gets an Upgrade!
The Relentless Pursuit of the Source: The Esoteric DV-60
Esoteric designs and manufactures the world’s most sophisticated digital front-ends! From their 4 box $63,000 Reference Player (P-01/D-01/G-0) to the top rated $5500 DV-50 Universal Player, Esoteric has adhered to a relentless pursuit of the source material for your audiophile system.
The new Esoteric DV-60 is built around the brand-new, custom designed and manufactured VOSP transport mechanism. No modification of a stock transport, no matter how extreme, can compare to the VOSP transport. Esoteric's goal of reading data off the disc as accurately as possible has been realized at a previously unheard of price point.
The 50 pound DV-60 replaces the DV-50S, and this is quite a substantial jump in performance. The technology this machine possesses is absolutely state-of-the-art. The DV-60 employs proprietary up-sampling functionality up to 24bit/1.5MHz, resulting in music completely devoid of any sense of a “digital” presentation. The sound is extremely “analog-like” in nature with remarkable dynamics, pinpoint imaging, and the most natural timbral balance you’ve ever heard. From the new custom-crafted precision transport mechanism all the way down to the 3-point hardened steel leveling feet, from the isolation of the power supply to the attention to detail for their updated digital-to-analog (DAC) circuit board, state-of-the art design is truly the hallmark of the Esoteric DV-60.
Up-sampling can only be done from the front! Esoteric’s 3 proprietary up-sampling options are: FIR (24bit 8x up-sampling) or FIR + RDOT (24 bit 32x up-sampling) or from PCM to DSD (1 bit 64x up-sampling). It’s simple to switch between all three options and decide which one sounds best, determined by the original quality of the disc you are playing. You can also switch between the SACD layer and Standard CD layer on the fly with a touch of the front panel button!
While the DV-60 is capable of driving any multi-channel system, Esoteric has spend considerable time designing dedicated high-end audio outputs (both balanced and single ended) for the two-channel audiophile. The two-channel outputs are separated form the multi-channel outputs on its own dedicated analog output circuit board! The DV-60 is an unbelievable sounding CD player and the sound of this player only gets better with SACD or DVD based media. We believe there no other player available today in this price range that can compete with the build-quality or the sound quality of the DV-60.
The video section of this player is simply stunning! Esoteric’s new 14-bit video processor uses the Analog Devices ADV7324 with NSV (Noise shaping video), plus Faroudja’s I/P conversion processor chip with DCDi technology. HDMI output terminal with video up-conversion pass through up to 1080p and uses the latest LSI chipset ABT1018 from Anchor Bay Technologies. What does all of this mean; it means you’d be hard pressed to find a better video disc player anywhere at any price!
Reviews
A recent DV-60 review stated: "Conclusion: It took both the Toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD player and Anthem AVM 50 A/V processor to perform the [video] duties of one Esoteric DV-60." For the actual review please see: http://www.hometheatersound.com/equipment/esoteric_dv60.htm
Recently another reviewer, Dave Robinson, the editor in chief at www.positive-feedback.com wrote..." "Blow me down!" said Popeye—and so do I about the Teac Esoteric DV-60. Over the past year, I've lived with this superb universal player, and have gotten to try it with just about everything you could feed it on an optical disc. It has been flawless in operation, is impeccable in ergonomics and fittings, and is glorious for both video and audio playback. In every test, the DV-60 passed with flying colors, and impressed not only myself, but also every visitor that I've had in my listening room and home theater room with its unusual collection of virtues. when placed into a demanding home theater setting, it pulled ahead of my previous standard, the Linn Unidisk 1.1, for both DVD video and audio surround playback. .........the folks at Teac Esoteric mentioned that they believed the DV-60, configured as they recommended (HDMI "EXP" mode at 1080p), would be "very close" to Blu-Ray when playing back DVD video through its chip sets. Is this hype, wishing thinking, or was it an accurate prediction? Based on what I saw over many months, I've concluded that Esoteric's claim is not hype; my DVDs have never looked better, and the best of them really narrowed the gap with Blu-Ray." For the actual review please see: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue38/esoteric_dv60.htm
"Over the past year, I've lived with this superb universal player, and have gotten to try it with just about everything you could feed it on an optical disc. It has been flawless in operation, is impeccable in ergonomics and fittings, and is glorious for both video and audio playback. In every test, the DV-60 passed with flying colors, and impressed not only myself, but also every visitor that I've had in my listening room and home theater room with its unusual collection of virtues. When paired with a JENA Labs Model ONE power cord, it rose to the top tier of SACD stereo players, with very fine CD playback as well; when placed into a demanding home theater setting, it pulled ahead of my previous standard, the Linn Unidisk 1.1, for both DVD video and audio surround playback. And the Unidisk 1.1 was no slouch."
"If you're in the market for a universal player, amigos, this is the one."
"I therefore award the Teac Esoteric DV-60 a "Ye Olde Editor's Highest Recommendation!" with real enthusiasm." - Positive Feedback Read More
