Esoteric's G-03x Master Clock Generator

Does it make sense to pay that much? Perhaps, for some, as much as buying a Porche (or whatever), if they A) can spare the money and or B) can afford to go hungry. Better still, give the money to the poor.

But no kidding, I don't know ANYBODY personally who could afford the Esoteric's G-03x. I am not disputing that it works but it is not the best thing since sliced bread... you can't eat it and food is more important than Hi-Fi.

But I would like to hear it, but I suspect there is a much cheaper product that does the same thing (a clock is a clock and nothing more) that may be every bit as good or maybe 90%+ (who knows) near the Esoteric.

If something costs the manufacturer $100 in raw cost of parts, the final price should be something like $600 fitted? It may sound like a big mark-up, but the $100 does not include labour (assembly), overheads, middle person to do installation etc, taxes etc.

Who know what the Esoteric's G-03x cost is actual parts, but the same scaling applies.

That Vacuum State clock will probably cost you around $500 from the fitters - would love to hear it against the Esoteric's G-03x, it may well even equal it. I have heard one (the Vaccum State - AMAZING) but not the Esoteric (probably equally amazing and better still?). But only one is affordable.

I believe that Esoteric was (or still is ) sourcing their master oscillators from Stanford Research Systems (SRS). I was chatting with one of the SRS reps at a scientific conference a few years back and he said they were selling their OXCO and Rb master oscillators to a high end company. At the time, Esoteric was the only company I was aware of selling an outboard Rb master clock.

FYI-the OXCO oscillators go for about $250 in qty. of 100.

The Rb oscillator go for about $1500. A full Rb frequency standard goes for about $2750.

SRS makes really great stuff. I've been using their lock-in amplifiers, counters, and pulse generators for 15 years. When the instruments are calibrated, I would stake my life and reputation on their stuff. I doubt the Vacuum State Clock is as good as the SRS units on raw performance of the clock in terms of stability. For audio who knows.

The Rb frequency standard is pretty nice for syncing the time bases of different instruments. Pretty useful when you are looking at timing errors on the order of 25 picoseconds.

BTW-If you have to resort to using an atomic clock for timing and jitter correction, you probably should rethink your whole approach to audio. The Rb oscillator is basically an atomic clock in case you are wondering.

07-05-08: Bugman03
I purchased the G-ORb clock about a month ago to go with my Esoteric P5/D5. This clock makes a huge improvement in the clarity and musicality. This clock costs as much as the P5 and D5 and I am very pleased with it so for me it is worth the cost. I have never listened to the less expensive clock so I can't comment on it. If the clock has nothing to do with jitter then wny does it improve the quality of the sound so much?

Agreed. I have listened to the P5/D5 with and without the master clock generator. The performance increase with the clock is easy to perceive.

I am looking into the possibility of a P03-D03 combination and a dealer quoted them with the G-Orb clock, saying it was the best digital sound he had ever heard. When I talked to an Esoteric rep and asked about the sonic differences between the G-0rb and G-03x, as I have heard neither, he opined that there was a much greater difference between clock/no-clock than between the 2. I really appreciate the discussion above as I am learning quite a lot about clocks, which I never realized were so important. I also realize that 2 people will listen to the same presentation and hear different things. My best option, as I know, is to hear them for myself, preferably in my own system. The starting point is to just HEAR THEM, which I hope to do at RMAF in October. Thanks again folks for your informative and enlightening discussion.

I realize that this thread hasn't been replied to for a long time but I wanted to comment. I have been into audio for longer than I care to mention. I've owned KEF, B&W, Quad, SOTA, Linn, ARC, CJ, Theil, Pass Labs, etc. System price tags have ranged from $100 to over $80k.

My current system: Wilson Watt Puppy 8, Accuphase A-50V amp, Accuphase C-390 preamp, Accuphase T-109V, Esoteric P-05 and Esoteric D-05. Good but not overly expensive cables.

This is a very solid sounding system with little or no listener fatigue. Bass definition, sound stage, mid-range clarity, etc is very very good.

I recently took the opportunity to purchase the lesser priced word clock from Esoteric, the G-03x (used). It is wonderfully built, easy to connect and more importantly, superb in the added differences it made to my systems sound.

Bass definition - I didn't think it could get better than the combination of the WP8s, Accupahse amp and P-05/D-05 - I was wrong! The bass definition got even better with the word clock - Outstanding, articulate, defined, deep and tight. Zero bloat here..

Sound stage - huge improvement. Wide, airy, deep, incredible.

Highs - even my 55 year old ears can pickup on the subtle detail changes wrought by the G-03x. Highs are smoother, more natural, more three dimensional.

Overall system changes - as good as the system sounded before the word clock the system is now more natural and effortless sounding. Instead of thinking "damn that sounds great" I think about the person singing the song, picturing them behind the mike, etc.

The G-03x made a large improvement to an already excellent sounding system. Good stuff...