esoteric products

Statman: if you have K-01X on order (having heard the K-03 and K-01 and hearing reports already from a friend or 2 who went with the K-01X recently, and further, based upon my having owned DV-50s, UX1Ltd, P-03U/D03 and P-02/D-02), you will be very happy with both the Eso’s ability to play SACD as well as CD once you break the unit in fully (see threads on this forum regarding what that takes per playback option given CD, SACD and all the various upsampling and filter options). You'll also face some choices to find your preferred playback combination of upsampling (or none going straight RBCD 44.1 and SACD respectively) and choice of filters (or none).  Again, there are many threads on the forum on this gear, some of whom have alot of notes from Esoteric K and P/D owners regarding the attributes of the various filters and other options.

Earlier Eso units (I’m thinking my DV-50S and UX-1 Limited were admittedly better (subjectively and too my ears) at SACD than CD) but that went away a long time ago as a differentiator. Later Esoteric units (that I’ve heard & owned) excel at both formats and hold their own against alot of competition.

As an aside, I own an Oppo 105D for DVD and Bluray playback for family in the living room. I’ve heard it’s SACD and CD playback and find them very good but nowhere in a class with the P-03U/D-03 I owned for years let alone the P02/D02 or K01 and K03 generation players. All of the above is one man’s opinion...others can help given their listening impressions as well.

The K-01X you are expecting is going to be (IMHO) an eye-opening experience. Use of quality power cords and interconnects benefit this gear very much; what are you using?

Hope this helps...have a great week!

zephyr24069 and dgarretson,

Thank you for the replies much appreciated. I have read up on the K-01X and the filter settings for both CD and SACD. There are two different audiophile sites I regularly post on and zephyr you are also on it, as I have read your posts. ;) Yes, Ivan got me jumping on it due to the price and immediate availability. I will definitely use them all and find my own settings. I am so waiting to hear this unit setup in my system. I also anticipate the long break in for the different filter settings. I have read on those other sites that a few owners like the SLDY2 setting. I owned an Ayre CX-7e that had two filter settings. Is the SLDY2 favored by some due to a smoother roll off?

No offense to the Oppo owners as I am one also, but the Oppo is a good SACD/CD player that has shown some benefits from a good upgraded power cord and the right cable XLR or RCA interconnect to sound it’s very best! My opinion for the record. I know that the Oppo BDP-105 can be a bit more forward sounding and labeled "bright" in it’s presentation to some upon first listening. It is actually bringing out detail that may sound harsh in some owners systems. I briefly had an Audio Research Reference CD 9 player in my system to compare CD playback between the Oppo and the Audio Research and there was no comparison between the two. The ARC CD 9 was much warmer and more analog sounding and had wider and deeper soundstaging most likely due to the tube section. The issue is it cannot play back other formats, it is CD only. I have been in contact with a new Esoteric K-01X owner who had the CD 9 previously and explained away my concern of the K-01X regarding midrange comparisons. If all goes as scheduled, the unit should be here on Friday! ;)

You are very welcome...Esoteric just further added to all of our audiophile nervosa :-) factor by debuting a Grandioso K1 as yet another new product to lust after potentially!

Dgarretson: +1 on your comments about a 10 Mhz master clock to input into the K-01X. It does not seem to have a 50-ohm input on it for 10 Mhz so the SRS is a great, low phase-noise choice. The Cybershaft clocks I happen to like have the right specs, low phase noise, etc...as well but they are 50-ohm output devices.  I believe the Esoteric G-01 and Grandioso G1 clocks (the latter to hit our shores soon from what Ivan/others say) are also contenders.

They just debuted a new line of integrated amps, Grandioso F1, F-03A, F-05 and F-07 plus a new limited edition customized black case version of the K-01X (BR), K-03X (BR) and F-03A (BR) for their 30th anniversary out of Japan with availability in other countries reported to be a bit later this year. 

I would say this company under the new owners is very alive and well.