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Esoteric X-01 Limited or new D-03/P-03

I’m torn between a new X-01 Limited or the new D-03/P-03 combo. If I went with the D-03/P-03 combo, I would start off with the D-03 and add the P-03 later on. The X-01 uses the tried and true Burr Brown 1704 Dacs and converts DSD to 88.2 kHz PCM. The D-03 on the other hand uses Analog Devices AD1955 Dacs and can do the following: DSD>DSD, PCM>DSD, and PCM>PCM (upsampled) and not sure about DSD>PCM. The P-03 utilizes the latest VRDS-Neo transport although there are probably not many differences to the one used in the X-01 Limited.

Even though the X-01 was just updated to “Limited” status, it is still an older based product, whereas the D-03/P-03 was just released to the U.S. market at CES 2006 where it received some very positive press.

Any thoughts, comments, or more information are welcome.
Thank you.
cdw57
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Dittersdorf
, by all means, please do give us more details. And, were you comparing the original X-01 with the P03/D03 combo, or were you comparing the X-01 Limited with the combo?
frankg
176 posts
 
It's my understanding that the VRDS in the P-01, UX-1 and X-01 is still the top transport. The VRDS in the P-03 is a lower cost unit. Not their best.
The P-01, UX-1 and X-01 VRDS uses a magnesium turntable. Magnesium has only two thirds the specic gravity of aluminum.The P-03 VRDS uses a duralumin (aluminum) turntable. I've never seen any claims by Esoteric that the duralumin table is much quieter. I'm not expert in this and if I'm wrong I'd like to know.
dittersdorf
7 posts
 
Of course at the Munic HighEndShow the X-01 Limited was shown.
Especially after upsampling from PCM to DSD music ! flows through the room.
Remarkable is that the P03/D03´s sound without any clock was better than with one.

Have had the P03/D03 for one week at home. The sound is very natural, but you can hear in a quiet room P03´s ball bearing noise at your seat 2,5m away from the transport. This construction based on 2 ball bearings is the most stupid one you can imagine. Have owned the P01 some month ago. Its noise was much louder than P03´s but I ask Esoteric: why noisy ball bearings ? Other manufacturers offer SACD transports which are loudless.
Because Esoteric is not able to offer a loudless transport, I would try to become happy with Accuphase´s newest DP 78. It includes the same AD 1955 chips. It gets in Germanys HiFi&Records a phantastic test.
I think, offering 25 years after the invention of CD transport mechanismns a transport which makes a lot of noise is a bad joke.
Dittersdorf
veloceracing
26 posts
 
I read with interest Dittersdorf's comment about the noisy transports that he's encounted in the P01 and P03. A while back I purchased a UX-1 with a noisy transport and I even enquired in this forum about the noise. I, too, could hear it from 10 feet away, as Dittersdorf mentioned. Other X-01 and UX-1 owners reported that their units did not emit any noise. I swapped the UX-1 for a UX-1 Ltd and there is, indeed, no audible noise from the transport. Could this just be a series of bad transport mechanisms?
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Dittersdorf, you are correct. Some Esoteric transport assemblies seem to be mechanically quite noisy. While the annoying crunckling&chuggering does not affect the sound, TEAC America has been more than forthcoming to address the issue with customers that have complained of noisy units. Before you give up your P03/D03 combo, you may want to contact TEAC in Germany, or elsewhere in the EU, to determine if the problem can be addressed, and perhaps the transport subassembly can be swapped with a quiet one, as it seems to be frequently done in the US.
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