Esoteric K-01

Matjet,

very interesting, I have been holding off getting this unit for the specific reasons Guidocorona mentions.

So I look forward to more details.

How do you find the unit for noise, disc spinning?

Any noise?

Other models including their top unit from first hand experience in my own set-up I could hear such specially on silent passages which was distracting to me and stopped my purchase.

I have the K-01 and it is a superb sounding machine. It is a big step up from the X-03SE, which I still consider a great player, and which deservedly attracted glowing reviews. I have had a few high end players in my system, and I think the K-01 excels in presenting music with exquisite detail that sounds natural and does not fatigue, and lays out a magical soundstage. Vocals are sublime. It needs
time to run in but fresh out of the box, you already know it is something special.
I think the TAS choice of the S_Dly1 filter on their K-03 review was a mistake, if the K-01 is anything to go by. To my ears the Fir1 or Fir2 (not certain yet but think Fir1) sound better. I feel the S_Dly1 filter seems to flatten out the music a little and rob it of a little air, but it is subtle.
Definitely use the 2x upsampling.

There is no noise with the K-01; it is dead silent. The build quality is superb. The machine is beautiful, a pleasure to use, look at and touch. The sound stage is extremely three dimensional. Instrument and voice separation is superb and emerges out of a black silent background. Music is very detailed and sounds more alive than any other CD player I have ever listened to. My prior CD player was the Esoteric X-01-D2. There is no comparison, the K-01 is in a different league. The improvement in sound was immediately obvious, right out of the box. I did not have to do an A-B comparison.

I really wanted to love the G-orb. But it made absolutely no improvement in sound with the K-01. I tried it with all types of music, various settings, Sacd, Cd. I focused on all aspects of sound: low level detail, dynamics, bass, treble, midrange, sound staging, timbre, instrument separation, voice, strings, jazz, classical, rock. Lengthy listening and A-B comparison with and with out the G-orb in the loop. I couldn't detect an improvement.

Regarding settings. I am still uncertain which one I like best. I would be interested in hearing what other K-01 owners like best and why.

K-01 settings suggestion: 'Fir1' filter and '2x' upsampling. This combination sounds best to me so far.

MIke60, and Matjet, it is great that yu like you k-01. I have k-03 and it is a great player.In my system and for my ears it bested x01-d2 and wadia s7i. Becaue my integrated has only RCA as diect conect to amplifier and I use only XLR cables, I cant compare how k-03 player sounds direct to amplifer. Can you provide any comments on this subject. It will be greatly appreciated. I am considering change to another amplifer and thiking running k-03 direct. Thank you.