Esoteric P-03/D-03 or Metronome

I agree with Dev's assessment of Esoteric build quality. The P/D series are built with outstanding quality. Esoteric customer service is also first rate...I've owned several Esoteric units all the way up to my current P-03 and D-03 and found the way in which Esoteric takes care of customers and issues when they occur to be among the 3 best I've dealt with (Edge, Classe and Esoteric).

Tabl10s, the Oracle 2000 is a marvelous pce. and eye candy to boot and really enjoyed. In my system it was very musical and even though Oracle refers to it sounding it's best via BNC connection I preferred AES by far with my dac anyways.

MBL 1621A, in my system all areas across the board are improved which is pretty amazing. The only area I preferred the Oracle was I felt it was ever so slightly more musical, this is slightly though. Now this was using the Oracle with AES connection which was my preference, I found myself connected to the music with my toes always taping along with sometimes finding myself singing along but not so when BNC connected. The person who bought the 2000 also wanted my AES digital cable so I reluctantly sold it thinking I could pick one up used easily but this has not happened. I have not yet had my MBL hooked up in AES configuration, I'm currently using the BNC. If you refer to my initial info. saying improved in all areas and my feeling when using the Oracle with my preferred connection AES should say allot and hope once I get around to getting another AES conection will hopefully be another improvment like with the Oracle, that would really be nice but even with the BNC curently is pretty amazing.

The MBL was a no brainer upgrade, one thing that was interesting was I demoed the matching dac but still preferred the AA Hybrid Dac.

What kind of sound are you after?

I have only heard the P03/D03 with the clock and it is a very nice player. Quite warm or rich and sounds as solid as its construction. It is lust worthy to look at and use.

I have not heard the Metronome in a system I know, so I would not comment on the differences other than it was a nice player.

The Kalista as a transport is a work of art. Personally I am not a fan of top loading transports. I never got used to the fiddling with the puck and the disk and then the removable teapot lid. I always felt I needed another hand. I also mistrust disks being read in the open light. I had an Oracle some years ago and it drove me mad. Although it was a good sounding machine at the time, it sounded quite different with the lid off.

Chad,

I know, you know the lid wasn't to be removed when it was in play.

Dev,

Here's a cable you might enjoy.

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/sensorypower_active_digital_cable.htm

Hi Tab110s,

I couldnt resist the experiment to give it a listen without the lid. I had seen a few exotic top loading players that had no cover, like the 47 labs, and I always thought it was an odd idea to read light in light. Obviously I only needed to try it once... well maybe twice!