Esoteric K-01

Hello Matjet,

I was unfamiliar with APL until today. I did a little research after reading your response to my note. Your NWO 4.0 is very impressive. It appears that Esoteric may have learned a thing or two from your work. I have some questions:

Thank you for the nice words! Ever since the NWO-1 was introduced 6 years ago, Esoteric Japan is aware of my developments. In fact, their team auditioned the NWO-1 and NWO-3.0-GO at CES. They have offered great support over the years for which I am very thankful and grateful, and I am very happy that their lead-design engineering team considered evaluating the AKM DACs and now implementing them in their products!

1)Why did you not preserve the ability to use a high end external master clock with the NWO (like the Esoteric G-ORb)? Do you feel a G-ORb could improve the performance of the NWO 4.0 if the NWO allowed for use of an external clock?

What I use from Esoteric players is the enclosure, the top-line VRDS-NEO transport (the same as in their P-01) and associated DSP that is also partially re-designed. Everything else is removed. This said, the entire clocking architecture is replaced with my proprietary modules. While I am sure Esoteric had their reasons for such design, I believe that my approach brings better results and does not benefit from external clocking at all. So now the clock input is transformed to coaxial S/PDIF digital input accepting up to 192/24.

2) What is the retail price of a new NWO 4.0? How long a wait for delivery? Where can it be purchased?

The older UX-1 and X-01 players (Including their Limited Editions) featuring the top-line VRDS-NEO transport are no longer in production, sorry to say. Depending on whether you'd like Universal playback (UX-1) or CD/SCAD only (X-01) a "donor" is required for the NWO-M re-design. The donor working condition is not of concern.

This is an all-hand-made boutique (including circuit boards population with microscopic surface-mount components, and point-to-point wiring) that is built to order by me personally and is sold factory direct. Current re-design cost to NWO-M is $25,000 with 3 years warranty included and it takes 4 weeks from "donor" and deposit receipt.

3)Where can I listen to an NWO?

I have several audiophiles interested in the NWO-M, so I am flying my own unit here from Europe. It is possible to arrange audition in the beginning of 2011. Please email if interested.

4)How do you brake-in the NWO for SACD (the Isotek disc is a CD). How much time do you feel the break in process requires?

I use dynamic large orchestra classical music for SACD burn-in. I was told once that there is SACD disc available with Pink Noise track on it, but I was never able to find it. As reported by my customers, the machine takes up to 500 hours to break-in, but that is the case with most audio electronics.

What power cable(s) and interconnects do you recommend?

I use my own cables so I am unaware what else works best, sorry to say. I'd recommend low capacitance solid-core OFC cables with minimal or no shielding using conductors with reduced surface area dielectric contact. Maybe it is good idea asking other NWO owners here on Audiogon or on my forum.

Best wishes for the Holiday Season!

Alex Peychev

I have the NWO 4.0 M for a few months now and I can tell you that this is by far the State of the Art CD/SACD unit currently available .

The unit bests my Spectral SDR 4000 Pro and the EMM stack and the Playback design MSP 5 that I also use in other systems.

The NWO 4 M competes neck to neck with my best Vinyl system ( Saskia turntable + Talea arm + Dynavector vxs1T). It is that good.

Be careful as once you have heard it, you will want it.

Hi Alex,
Thank you for your informative response. I have a few follow up questions.

What is the accuracy of the clocking mechanism used in the NWO M?

Could you explain in layman terms why a more accurate clock (G-ORB) would not improve the sound of the NWO M (if it were designed to accept an external clock)? Clock use with single box CD/SACD players is a controversial subject. Your answer to this question would help my understanding of this important topic .

Finally, what is your opinion on use of an external clock with CD players like the Esoteric K-01? (in view of your professional relationship with Esoteric are you able to answer this question objectively?). There are widely varying opinions throughout Audogon on this subject. I think you are well respected and have a large following on this site. I am sure a lot of people would lke to hear your frank, candid opinion on external clock use (especially highly accurate atomic Rb clocks like the G-ORb) with single and seperate box cd players.

Thank you.

Hi Alex,
I have a few follow up questions:

What is the accuracy (in ppm) of the clock(s) used in the NWO M?

Can you explain in layman terms why a using a highly accurate external clock like a G-ORb would not improve the sound of the NWO M?

Use of an external clock in single box CD/SACD players is a highly controversial subject. You are well known and well respected on Audogon. I am sure a lot of people would like to know your thoughts on use of an external clock. What is your opinion of using an external clock with single box players like the Esoteric K-01? Does it improve single (and multiple) box players? Why or why not?

Thank you.

I have asked this same question a while back, owning an Esoteric Rubidium clock and also Apl-modded gear. Once I understood the different functions of a "clock", I see why the external clock, while nice to have, is nowhere near as critical as the internal clock.

I'm not an engineer, but Alex and others have explained to me that the external clock controls the Speed or precision of the clock frequency. The precision of the clock frequency has nothing to do with the jitter introduced to the DACs but with speed ONLY. In other words, if your external clock is at a lower frequency than that specified, the music will play at lower speed and vice versa. So the stability of the external clock has nothing to do with jitter. Alex said his clocking approach reduces jitter to a level that is unobtainable even with an atomic clock, unless it clocks the DAC chips directly which is impossible. Having the internal clock in close proximity to the DACs (a few inches) results in greatly reduced jitter, which is audible as a purer signal output. Consequently, as I discovered, trying to apply external clock measurements to an internal clock totally misses the point, because they are controlling different things. That is also why most good CD mods will always contain an upgraded internal clock.

Hopefully, I didn't just confuse you; an engineer or Alex could probably explain this more clearly, or not :-). The point is, with the NWO-M, my G-Os Rubidium clock becomes totally extraneous for this system.