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New Esoteric P02 D02

Hello,

Seems like there is a new set up separates from Esoteric. The P02 D02. Hven't seen any info out there at all, but it is for sale already at retailers. Not a substitute of the P03 D03 as expected, that are still selling as well, but a new category in between de 01s and 03s. DACs and inputs seem like an upgrade of the K01.

Anyone has any info, or heard of this? You can read about it at Esoteric parent company home page (in Japan but in English).

Price in Europe is 3.000 Euros higher than the 03s per unit (so +6000 EUros higher in total)

Any feedback, info news?

Thanks
Eli
eelii08
pharma007
73 posts
 
I rank Esoteric transports like this :

1-p01 vuk and p02
2-p03
3-p05
4-x-01

Dacs when playing pcm/cd:

1-d02 and d01 vuk
2-K01 as dac
3-d03
4-d05

Dacs when playing DSD/SACD

1-D-03 and D-02 (my favorite is D03 with SACDs)
2-D-01 (it down converts sacds to 88k or 176k pcm)
3-D-05

This is just my personal opinion and taste your observations may be different.
pharma007
73 posts
 
To Guido:

I didnt compare directly p05 transport with x-01 as a transport, but I rather compared p05/d05 with x-01. So, x-01 being ranked as 4th may not be accurate, but it is definitely ranked below p01,p02 and p03.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Thank you Pharma, fascinating and useful info indeed!

I noticed that you have ranked K-01 only as DAC.... Can you rate its transport performance against X-01 and P-03?

How would you rate overall K-01 single box performance against P-03/D-03?

Thanks, Guido
pharma007
73 posts
 
You're welcome.
I liked the DAC stage of K01. I compared it when it first came out back in 2011 with p03/d03. The DAC stage was better than d03 with pcm or cds. I first didnt like the sound of K01 compared to p03/d03. I found it too dry for my taste. When I connected p03 to K01, and used it as a DAC, I got better results, more refinement, more body, etc. Even tough they share the same mechanism (vmk 3.20) with the new p02 and p1 transports, k01 didnt perform like them as a transport. This could be due to better power supply or circuitry in dedicated transports or the clock. When used as a DAC It is close to D02. When I was doing this comparison I didnt use G0rb clock (I purchased it later). All comparisons are made with cds, since there was no way of outputting or inputting dsd to or from k01. That is why I didnt mention K01 as a transport. It would be ranked below p03 as a transport in my personal opinion. I would go for a dedicated transport if you need one. You can get a p03 or p01 nowadays for less than K01 if you need a transport.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Thank you Pharma.... Excellent food for thought.... And even better food for fostering a fresh flare-up of my ever-simmering audiophrenic angsts. G.
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