Esoteric P03 D03 owners: To clock or not to clock

Not too much feedback on the specific clock question.

Anyway, i got a loaner unitmthis morning to try out from the importer and distributor. Is fully broken and conected with esoteric own cables, mexcell.

I can keep it until monday so will be doing as much listening as I can these few next days. Will report my findings.

Anyway, one thing the sales rep told me to do, that i think may be of interest to you guys is to place the clock directly above the transport, and not in a different rack space. He claims it sounds better since the transport benefits from the extra weight, and since there is no heat problems thats the way he likes to install them. Again he claims there is a good improvement in overall sound.

Reading the manual, there seems to be nothing against this placment. All it says is to place in a rigid surface and to avod heat like amps or valves.

Was wondering if you tried this and if so if u hear a difference. If not you may consider trying. I cant say if there is a dif or not, but surely would be an unexpensive "upgrade" if it works.

Best
Eli

Eli, with the external clock, be sure to read the manual to insure that you have the clock rate set correctly for how you use the P03/D03 combo. The second point that I would make is once you have the clock set up with the P03 D03, just listen with the clock in place for a few days and then remove it by going back to using the D03 to clock the P03. In my system, this allowed me to hear the difference the easiest. Hope that helps.

Thanks Babybear. Thats what i will do. Will listen to it till monday and when day take it will plug to the DAC again. See if I can hear a diff.

I hope to be able to do some critical first listening tonight. Would be nice to hear some improvements right away though. We wil see.

Ive set them at 176,4 on both A and B. I can read the number on the A and B screen of the clock and both clock lights in DAC and transport are on, showing constant blue, so I guess it should be well connected no?

Interestly, the esoteric rep told me he likes it better at 88... Still I left it at 176,4 since is the freq I had to the DAC (i guess better for comp pourposes). Im also up to DSD on reedbock. Is thisnthe mode younuse also?

Babybear i see you have something on top of your transport already. What is it? Great job with the new room. Been reading quietly. Im also in the process of building up a new room. Would like to ask you some questions on some of your experiences in that regard if you dont mind. Like how you choosed dimensions, few on the great electrical instalation and others.

Thnaks
Eli

Hi Eli,
When you upsample redbook to DSD, Esoteric does recommend setting the external clock to 176.4. I also prefer the sound this way as well so this is how I have it set.

On top of my transport is something that I purchased from Bright Star Audio about 5 years ago - not sure what its called but its very dense and I would guess it weighs in the area of 8 - 10 pounds. I've always used this on top of my CDP or now my transport. To be honest, I couldn't tell you if it improves the sound or not. What I do find that does make a nice improvement under the P03 is a vibration isolation platform.

Feel free to email with any questions about the room, etc.

For RBCD playback in Dual-AES configuration (not taken to DSD), I've found 176.4 clocking and 176.4 up-sampling is the best combination with my stack. I tried 88.2 and while it is good, I tend to like 176.4 better. BTW...I also tend to run with the digital filter set to On. I also utilize 176.4 clocking for DSD playback (native DSD for SACD).

Has anyone found that RBCD->DSD is superior for up-sampling?