your impression on esoteric sa-50

running in my sa-50 at the moment, things are a bit messy around the house as i just moved into a new place, it has around 10 hours on it, and i did some "uncritical listening" to learn about the settings and filters it has in this machine. I know this is not even close to burned in, it already out performed my cec+havana dac combo(these are not bad sounding equips)
Just wanna share this that this morning, was listening to YoyoMa+ silk road esemble live in chicago, once i had my eyes closed, i thought my TV(in between my speakers,not good for acoustic i know!) was making sound, the pinpoint imaging is that good, i have not compared to P5/D5 combo, but apart from the esoteric house sound, sa-50 seems put behind the cold clinical sound, it is smooth and very analogue sound straight out the box.
I will continue with the update after more hours of running in.
cheers

Look at the PS Audio Perfect Wave if you don't care about SACD or multichannel.

guys thanks for sharing, i like the versatility of SA-50, but so many suggest x-05 is better sounding cdp despite a newer filter in SA-50.
never auditioned oppo, my current cdp is CEC, it does everything well, very musical, but shows shortcomings in the treble area, soundstage is not so dimensional, on the contrary with high end stuff there will be no problem with measurement(which demonstrates the diminishing return rule in hi-fi), there won't be night and day differences in sound, but with that much more money, you paying for the presentation, and realism. Like you guys said, it's not just about hearing the instrument, the ambience, the timbre is something the lower end can not acheive.

Oppo over Esoteric? Kidding, right? The Esoteric relays the very fabric of an instrument; the timber of the violin; differences between nylon and steel strings; the breath of a vocalist; pinpoint imaging and lifelike sounstadging. An oppo??? One demensional, flat, no ambiance or involvement (unless I am drunk). Yes, oppo sounds GREAT, compared to my Bose Wave Radio. Please, guys...

I'm sure Teac/Esoteric will probably be around in one form or another for a while but Oppo has been around for ten years or more and offers great players at reasonable prices.

......really, owning Esoteric myself I would wage the bet that in ohhh 5 years let's say, that Esoteric will still be around. Service after the sale was a big factor in my purchase....some are just are flavors of the month.

Overpriced for the sound it produces, at least in my rig. OPPO 83SE beats it hands down.

I have an SA-50, which I purchased new about a month ago. One of the major reasons I bought it was because of the versatility it offered, serving as both a CD/SACD player and a DAC (with both USB and Digital input). Truly, IMHO, a one box solution.
For critical listening, I use the CD/SACD player, and for casual and background listening, I use Sonos, which I channel through the digital input of the SA-50, utilizing it's DAC. To my ears, there is very little difference in the quality of the music provided by either source.....and I'm very pleased with my purchase. Great build quality, and I'm still expecting the quality of the music to improve, as the break in time on these units is supposed to be in the neighborhood of 500 hours. Hope this helps.