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I heard a costly system from Esoteric.

2 days ago I was able to audition an Esoteric audio system. It consisted of the following:

Esoteric F-05 (Class A/B) integrated amplifier

Esoteric K-03 - CD/SACD Player

Over the years, I’ve been a vintage audio guy and I’m also into headphones. Someone told me that listening to an integrated amp with headphones (6.3mm) will give you an idea about how sound quality from the amp translates over speakers. I’ve found this to be very true in practice.

I gave it a go - with the NAD HP50, KEF M500, and some other (more) high-end headphones the store had. Currently, I only have the NAD’s and KEF’s, but I’ve owned dozens of high-end headphones in the past. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. Please allow me to explain without calling me a liar. It’s nothing personal, just my impressions!

There was considerably less drive/power behind the headphones. For instance, you would literally feel the bouncing air on the cups on closed-back headphones. Literally the same as a headphone dongle with a small amount (in mW of output power). In each song I listened to, I heard familiar details, but it was glossed over by a very sharp and peaky midrange and treble. There was clearly a boost in these frequencies. Bass was anemic. Normally, with high-power headphone amps and even some vintage integrated amps (high-end back in the 90s with 0.09 or less THD etc.), I got the detail with the sonic finesse. In other words, everything the Esoteric amp and CD player did together, I’ve already heard before. It simply pushed mid-treble frequencies to the forefront.

And the cost for this system? 13 Grand for the CD Player. And at least 10 Grand or slightly more for the amp. So 23 grand or slightly more with taxes factored in.

For this kind of money, if they are including a 6.3mm port for headphone listening, shouldn’t it be optimized? Afterall, if you’re going to include that in an amp, make sure it sounds good! I’ve heard headphone systems costing much, much, much, less that sounded better.

My last disappointment was the CD skip - track seeking function. It was very slow. Even some vintage CD players had a skip function where you hold  down the track change/skip button and the numbers move like a stopwatch. On the K-03, it was by the second, or a few seconds at a time. And I had to press the play button again, rather than simply seeking the part of the song I want to listen to.

Source: high-quality CD’s that I burned with .wav files (familiar songs, and original CD’s from my CD collection)

Don’t get upset, Esoteric owners. Feel free to share your impressions without getting mad at me. I know this is a touchy subject; since the object of one’s desire (especially after spending this much money) should be justified!

jackhifiguy
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riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook
979 posts
 

Depends what you consider old. Since youve been on A-Gon for 20+ Years I would say you cant be much younger than me as Im in my 50's.  Still havent taken the Pass out of the box and Half my gear (or more) is still Brand New in Box.

You think I cant find any of your past posts where you bash certain brands?? Seriously??  Since you have so much money to throw around (Somewhere other than on Audio gear apparently) care to make a wager?  I retired at 44 but can always use some more spare change for new toys.

 No idea what to make of your Chinese Fortune cookie nonsense. You bashed Esoteric and I and others responded.  You use other people's "stories" as if they were gospel and factual without any evidence. GUILTY until proven innocent huh?. Your claim that it costs 2K+ to send a piece of gear to Japan is not only ludicrous but completely ignorant. Keep spreading the lies and disinformation. What kind of an impression does THAT make??

 

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riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook
979 posts
 

That post you linked is a Joke. The guys complaining that the CD player made in Japan in 2005 has a problem and that nobody in the USA has parts for or can fix it 15 years later?  Most companies wouldnt even have the parts left laying around after 15 years had passed especially for a CD Player which change parts frequently....YOUR AYRE player they stopped carrying parts for 5 years after it was released. Dont hear any complaints about that from you.  Did you even bother to look into ANY of this or you just felt like re-posting a 3+ Year Old nonsensical thread to try and prove your point of view.  Some clown complains that his 15 year old CD player doesnt work so you trash Esoteric's brand name for all eternity based on THIS??

 

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riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook
979 posts
 

Nope no disability here. Became a full time caregiver cause I refused to put a parent in a nursing home.

Again...the cost of mailing is ludicrous. Anybody buying a 15 year old CD player is already a fool to begin with. How could ESOTERIC charge him for shipping those 2 amounts.  If he had shipped it directly to them via FEDEX/UPS/DHL esoteric would have NOTHING to do with the shipping charge incurred.   That shipping charge that he stated is more than that CD Player is worth. Wny bother getting it fixed at all??  LASERS dont last 15 years which he should have known before he purchased it.

As for being a "Pretend" human being...again dont know what that means. I have worked with Hundreds of people in the music industry since the 1980's. I have acquired almost 10,000 Gold and Platinum Record awards in that time period. About 4000 of them are featured on my Facebook Page RIAA AWARD COLLECTORS for anybody to see. Value of those 4000 awards alone is at least 2-3 Million.  Feel free to check out part of my "pretend" life. :)

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