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esoteric products

Hi Goners!

With the recent purchase of controlling shares of TEAC, Gibson Int. has been on quite a tear solidifying both the instrument, pro and home audio areas of they're growth!

With a consolidation of Onkyo, among others, they have been quoted as saying that Esoteric accounted for only 1.9% of the audio division of TEAC!!

As to the future of Esoteric they again stated that the brand "will have to mature and evolve on it's own"...

With the core group of USA market and matinence people accepting other jobs outside of the TEAC group then, even if Teac still pledges to support the upgrading and repair of the units how long can it be before Esoteric does a nose dive?!!

Is this the reason EVERYONE is dumping they're Esoteric gear? Looks like a dead end for the GRANDIOSE line...

Your thoughts,

Azjake
128x128azjake
dgarretson
2,598 posts
 
+1 Zd542. Sitting next to my K-01X is a highly developed Twisted Pear Buffalo DAC. It implements the same ESS reference Sabre DACs as top Oppo, but in a more sophisticated dual-mono configuration with 12 linear shunt power supplies that surpass Oppo by a good margin. While it has some very nice qualities, the K-01X is better.

I've had the cover off the K-01X. There is 70 lbs. of formidable guts in there & no free lunch.
bill_k
912 posts
 
+2 Zd542. With all due respect I suspect that Buconero117 has been drinking a bit too much of that Oppo Kool-Aid! Anyone that actually compared the build quality and sonics of Oppo vs. Esoteric could not reach that conclusion.
maxboy00's avatar
maxboy00
277 posts
 
I have both an Oppo-103 in my 3.1 system and an Esoteric-K 07 in my main 2 channel rig. There is no comparison between these two players.

And to the main point of the OP, Esoteric brand isn't going away, their products are well built, designed and sound excellent, there will always be demand for high quality products.
justubes2
203 posts
 
The k01x has be for everyone palate.

It just a player that does everything very well. It has dynamics and solidity in tone and very detailed.

Their are many players/dacs which may be sweeter, may have a more romatic female vocals which cost much less.

Over the years of owning many others player, imho, esoterics does have the sonic foundation pretty spot on and one should tailor ones sonic preferences with cables and associated equipment to win my vote overall.

I actually did not care for the old esoteric series at all, was it too neutral, on the extreme cold side? But not so for the new k series, its an easy match with a wide range of equipment and sound fantastic!
jon2020's avatar
jon2020
986 posts
 
Fully agree. The K series sound fabulous and is built like a tank to last a lifetime. The only problem is that the dac section would need regular hardware upgrades and this cannot be done by the manufacturer a la Ayre products. Also, the transport mechanism will fail one day and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it would last at least 10 years. If it does, as a transport, it is a keeper for both redbook and sacd. When the dac upgrade bug smites, I would probably go with the Bricasti M1.
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