Esoteric K03XD

I have not heard it, but go to Music Direct and look at the one review of the K-03XD from a buyer/owner:
Well this is something completely different. I've not had it that long and am still running it through its paces but I'm coming to the conclusion that this outperforms any turntable that I'm familiar with. And this is coming from a true dyed in the wool, buried in the analog camp kind of person. It doesn't sound like a cd/sacd player or like any turntable that I'm familiar with. It sounds like master tape. Pretty convinced now that DSD is the way to go. No streamer i have listened to and I have heard some truly great machines don't sound like this. It has changed my world view about playback systems. The fact that some fifty cent discs from a resale shop can sound phenomenal makes it a game changer. Disc after disc in my collection sound like I never heard them before. I will definitely think twice next time some limited $135.00 plus disc comes out. That's it for now and I will be listening to a bunch of Mofi sacd discs recently purchased of music I already own on Mofi One Step pressings. It should be interesting. One more thing; it deserves an additional star. Score: ******

Fred60,
Thanks for the above information.  Sounds like he was over the moon about the K-03XD.

I don't know anything about Esoteric products.  But I do know this, if a friend is offering you a chance to own a great piece of musical reproduction at a reasonable price, asking oneself how to incorporate that component may be more advantageous than how to exclude.   It may not work out in the end, but that may be a byproduct of your system.  A need indeed is a friend in need.   

The key to any gear is the power supply and the Esoteric players I've owned all have huge power supplies and the built quality is 2nd to none. I have no issues with CDs if mastered with care and I'm a vinyl man. I know for years the magazines have done a 180 on them bashing them while before they rated gear as SOTA using CDs as the source. You need a well-made and designed CD player to bring out what the CD medium is capable of. Esoteric and a few others do a great to superb job, the Marantz SA10S1 would be a great start, and then of course the Esoterics. Power cords matter when powering them.