CD players - Luxman vs. Esoteric?

I agree with Montejay, there are a lot of folks here that think the Esoteric CDP sound is clinical. I think people here do too much reading reviews of inexperienced posters and take on the opinions of others. So when they do go out and hear an Esoteric CDP they are expecting to hear a clinical system. A properly set up Esoteric CDP is not clinical sounding. At least not in my system. You have to consider the room, components, cables etc. Take one home and try it in your system before coming to the conclusion that it is clinical.

Let me add this as well.
Make sure the Esoteric cdp is broken in with at least 500 hours on it and has not been turned off in the previous 24 hour before you can really can properly assess it.

Regards,

I have an Esoteric UX-1 containing arguably their best transport, now only found in the P-01. My sound is ANYTHING BUT clinical. It is actually just the opposite and although my system is tubes, Esoteric demos their systems at shows without tubes and the music still sounds great. The key, as others have mentioned, is proper setup and system-matching. Most audio folks I have talked to are very tuned in to doing this. My transport spins at 4x the speed of most CD players, allowing for a buffered "error correction" on the fly. It results in very accurate reproduction of what is on the disc, but instead of sounding clinical, it just sounds "right". My goal 8 years ago was to have the musicians "playing in my living room", and I have achieved that with the help of Esoteric and a few other friends.

I think that it would be fair to say that both Esoteric and Luxman make excellent cd players, and they are comparable at their respective price points - sort of like BMW vs. Mercedes.

Preference probably boils down to a matter of taste.

i am not an authority on either brand. my listening experiences have consisted of a friend's stereo system (luxman) and ces (esoteric).

i would say that the luxman brand, based upon my limited experience is probably warmer than the esoteric products, which i found highly resolving but lacking in body.

the dealer of both brands can correct me if he disagree's with me.

i believe luxman still manufacturers tube gear.

i remember an older amp the 3045, i believe, very tube-like in the classic sense., but i haven't heard their new stuff.

i realize this doesn't address your specific question, but, hopefully, you can make some use of my observations.