Thanks for the update Russ. Very disappointing and kind of what I expected from TAP. That place will not get my business unless I am forced to use it.
I agree that a player of that build and price should be much more reliable. In a cosmic universal joke my K01 has started to give me the tray error so I get to live the dream. I sold the X03SE a couple of months ago and sorry I did not retain it for a backup. I did bring up this thread to the purchaser as I brought up the reliability issue as a potential issue down the road.
I am a dinosaur so my plan is to purchase a Denon or Yamaha SACD player as the price will probably be cheaper or consistent with a shipping and repair bill. I also listen to vinyl most of the time so not overly concerned about the sonics.
Esoteric are sonically fantastic but man oh man their reliability and repair facility are a joke. Very shoddy from a high end Japanese audio company. The Japanese used to be first rate in support but I guess those days are over.
Sorry to hear it and thanks for letting us know how it turned out.
Peace