Esoteric K-01X or K-03X??


I just sold my 6 years old Esoteric X-03SE CD player and 2 years old G-03X Master Clock today. So it’s time for me to decide which is my next CDP: Esoteric K-01X or K-03X?

 I have a friend who bought a K-01X four months ago, he listen to it about 2 months but not happy with the sound (He said not musical and lack of emotion…), then he put it into the box and continue enjoy his Vinyl. Because of our close relationship and this guy is rich, I can get his K-01X around USD 9400 only. If I buy a brand new K-03X, I pay around USD 7500. I know this is a very good deal, and I know many of you will say just go to get this K-01X. Yes, I saw hundred of posts about the good thing of K-01X, but I never have chance to compare it side by side with K-03X. Does K-01X really sound much better than K-03X? 

I’m thinking if we can use quantization to measure these CDP, if you give K-01X 100 scores, then score you give K-03X? 95? 90? 85? ....

So what about compare to K-03X and the my old X-03SE? If you give K-03X 100 scores, then what score you give X-03SE?

I’m thinking maybe I can save some money to buy other things like a 4K color new TV if I choose K-=03X. BTW, I’m not interested in CAS, so DSD has no meaning to me. I just use my CDP to pay my normal Red Book audio CD and SACD. Thanks a lot and have a nice weekend!




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mmbl622
Hi 68pete

Unfortunately, only one year warranty service in my region provided by the dealer. And this is one of the reason why the price is cheaper than normal market price.


I'm using my K-03X about one week, it sound very nice, and I agreed it sound better than my perviou X-03SE, better texture, better 3D dimension, wider soundstage, more smooth like silk. I hope I have enough money to buy K-01X.

The only disappointed for me is I try 8 different up-conversation, PCM and DSDF setting for my CD playback, but seem like the difference is very small with original setting. Does someone has similar experience 
What filter setting are you using?  Did you try 176.4 upconversion with SDLY2 or SDLY1 filter?

zephyr24069

I also tried original, 2Fx, 4fs and 8Fs in Up-conversion setting, but all sounds very similar to my ear (perhaps I have bad ears……), so I just pickup a combination that sound nice and more noticeable for me, which is:

Up-conversion = DSD

PCM = SDLY-1

DSDF = On


BTW, how can you choose 176.4kHz in 8Fs? It seem like you can’t choose the kHZ (?)


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i believe 176.4 is limited to 4FS. One thing you may be experiencing is that you need to burn in every combination of settings for both RBCD playback as well as SACD.  Things will not sound their best until you do with the K01, K03, 02 or 01 separates....