Badwisdom, that is an awful experience. I conclude you have bad luck in CD players and good taste in music. I also like Dead can Dance and have their sacds :)
You made me paranoid so i again quickly listened to my K01 and it is quiet with my my ear pretty close. My X03SE was also quiet. I have a friend in EU designing this stuff who told me esoteric transports are seen as the very best in the business and i heard other brands want to use them in their machines but esoteric only sells their lesser drives and at very high cost to their competitors. I did lots of back to back tests with them and bought for the sound quality and their reputation for a reliable transport was a bonus. I definitely would buy Esoteric again, but primarily because i think they sound wonderful. Best of luck!
You made me paranoid so i again quickly listened to my K01 and it is quiet with my my ear pretty close. My X03SE was also quiet. I have a friend in EU designing this stuff who told me esoteric transports are seen as the very best in the business and i heard other brands want to use them in their machines but esoteric only sells their lesser drives and at very high cost to their competitors. I did lots of back to back tests with them and bought for the sound quality and their reputation for a reliable transport was a bonus. I definitely would buy Esoteric again, but primarily because i think they sound wonderful. Best of luck!