To Colekat :
I place Esoteric transports above all. I am not a big fond of The new D02 dac in some areas I mentioned before. I think K series of single box players and D02 are the first examples of a new era in Esoteric sound and the following Dacs will be better. I compared extensively p01vuk, p02 and p03 with Accuphase Dp 900 as well. I liked p01vuk, and p02 over Accuphase transport in all the areas I give importance to. Also as you know The new dCS Vivaldi is using Esoteric vmk3 and also Soulution is using Esoteric transport. It is well proven top transport. There are other choices like belt driven CEC which I didnt audition, but heard that it had some reliability problems related to belt.
I need to hear the new Esoteric D1 and dCS Vivaldi Dac for a comparison listing.
For The transports they are the top reference in my list.
As for The Accuphase I would rank it highly only in an Accuphase only system. I liked Esoteric (p01vuk/d03 or d02) better in most areas, except ultimate refinement than Accuphase. I simply had more fun and enjoyed the music through Esoteric than Accuphase. So, in fact I like the house sound of Esoteric but the older one, not the new one which can be related to the AKM dac chips or the output stage. I also like Soulution cd players.
Like I said it all comes down to personal taste.
I place Esoteric transports above all. I am not a big fond of The new D02 dac in some areas I mentioned before. I think K series of single box players and D02 are the first examples of a new era in Esoteric sound and the following Dacs will be better. I compared extensively p01vuk, p02 and p03 with Accuphase Dp 900 as well. I liked p01vuk, and p02 over Accuphase transport in all the areas I give importance to. Also as you know The new dCS Vivaldi is using Esoteric vmk3 and also Soulution is using Esoteric transport. It is well proven top transport. There are other choices like belt driven CEC which I didnt audition, but heard that it had some reliability problems related to belt.
I need to hear the new Esoteric D1 and dCS Vivaldi Dac for a comparison listing.
For The transports they are the top reference in my list.
As for The Accuphase I would rank it highly only in an Accuphase only system. I liked Esoteric (p01vuk/d03 or d02) better in most areas, except ultimate refinement than Accuphase. I simply had more fun and enjoyed the music through Esoteric than Accuphase. So, in fact I like the house sound of Esoteric but the older one, not the new one which can be related to the AKM dac chips or the output stage. I also like Soulution cd players.
Like I said it all comes down to personal taste.