New Esoteric P02 D02

You and I are in the same situation Tom, and for the same reasons.

The drop in value of the 02s I am sure has a lot to do with the fact that a few 02s owners are upgrading and you see way more of these top digital system for sale than you would otherwise. Before the 01s were out, you could very rarely see a 02 system for sale and now there are a few.

The 02s at half retail or so are a steal. Nothing that I've heard or know of at that price level are even close.

I think is a matter of time. Me like you, if I don't get a decent price I will not sell them and keep the 02s happily. The moment these disappear of the market I think the resale price will go back to normal levels again. I don't mind waiting, since the 02s are really good in any case.

Hey Guys, This is a real dilemma, of course you need a full system at the level of the D-02/P-02 to hear what fuss is about, and hear lies the problem. With all the new gear out there spouting all these new spec's and claims at a tenth the price, DSD being the main problem, it is easy to put us in a category of over spenders, and trophy system fools! Unless you can justify and afford these components, your probably not going to hear the difference. So, I would like to think that there is many audio people out there that would jump at a chance to own these babies, I will probably be happily listening to them for awhile longer. And as Eliseo has said, I just can't justify having two super high end digital sources !! Or afford it!
I will continue to look for improvements that I can use with any future change or upgrade. As good as the combo is out of the box, Stillpoints, cables, racks, orientation, clock addition, power cords, have all helped to elevate the sound to a pretty damn remarkable playback.

Right to the point.

Specs really mean nothing. They are inexpensive. It is all about implementation and execution, quality of components, termination and the likes that rally makes the difference. But you do have to have a balanced system, with all components at a minimum level, that allows you to hear the differences at these levels.

Regarding improvements, the Esoterics benefit big time from a proper grounding device, as I have been able to hear first hand. Anyone interested, do try the Tripoint Troy grounding system with them and you will freak out.

Guys, If I go ahead and trade up for the new Esoterics, do I need to start a new thread. One thing about the D-02/P-02, the people who own them and share on this forum, are far and away the best audio people I've shared with, espiecally on this forum. I have two different offers on the table, one includes moving the D-02/P-02 in trade, the offer calculated out is 20K to the dealer, which is pretty encouraging, considering he will relist them at a profit, usually they try for 20 to 30 percent. The other offer, which I believe is a much better offer, would need me to list the combo myself. Like I said though, I would only need to net 20K to equal the other offer.
Zephyr, I wish I knew you were looking for the D-02/P-02, I would much prefer to sell them to someone who shares here. Low hours, mint condition... What should I do guys?

If you do upgrade and don't start a new thread, so be it! We'll still read and respond!!! Otherwise, just drop a note here and we can jump on that thread as well once we know it is there. My picking up the 02 was series of events, some good, and some not so good coming together including a scammer that made life hell for a while but he will get his so to speak; that much is certain! That brings me to another point; Esoteric gear seems to have joined the ranks of Accuphase, Sansui and others that scammers are currently targeting. If you go to hifishark dot com, search on P02 D02 from time to time and zoom in and look at photos on various ads elsewhere, SNs, etc...and compare to what has at times been posted here, you'll see a few eery similarities. Zero/low feedback is also happening for sellers posting high-end gear more and more here and on other forums. Sad really, but as they say,...word to the wise. Some of us were not that lucky overall....

All that stated, the 02 components are beyond my expectations and I am VERY happy with them....

I agree with Eelii that specs in and of themselves mean nothing; there is so much that goes into the overall results, flaunting specs alone is usually a sign that more investigation is necessary.

As far as your buying choices, it does not look like the use Eso market will recover soon. The different between what the dealer is offering you today and what you might command for price in the future, does not appear to be a huge (although it is still a good amount of money) difference. I'd suggest you determine how patient you are willing to be or how long you could go without having to sell the 02 components after upgrading to determine what's right for you....drop me an in-mail and we can talk further by phone. I have other comments/suggestions but a live chat is much more fun, not to mention, appropriate for that....