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Esoteric X-01 Limited vs X-05

Hi All,

I owned an X-01 LE a few years ago and enjoyed it especially with regards to frequency extension and dynamics. How does the X-05 compare to it tonally and dynamically? I have many sacd's and haven't played them since the x-01 left.

Thanks for your thoughts and input.

Have a great day !

billandsol
chayro
2,996 posts
 
I'm probably in the minority here, but I owned an X-05 a few years back and I couldn't wait to get rid of it.  Sound was dry and harmonically threadbare and so bad on CD I bought a Bel Canto dac to use while I was attempting to break it in.  Maybe I never reached the magic 500 hr. number the Esoteric fans claim is necessary, but I'm just giving you my experience.  The guy I sold it to, who BTW auditioned it at my home before buying, sold it very shortly after as well.  
gerryah930's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
gerryah930
144 posts
 
I agree that, in general, being the owner of both an Esoteric K-01Xs and dCS Vivaldi One, that some may consider the sound of the Esoteric hardware to be "too digital, harsh and brittle." However, although it may be that I have aging ears, and did not believe in the notion of a "break-in" period (I thought it probably was habituation), I now think that the Esoteric SACD/CD player I have sounds better than the dCS Vivaldi One on most Redbook CDs.
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