Esoteric Grandioso P1/D1


Hello, wanted to start a thread on the new flagship Esoteric Grandioso P1 D1 digital system. Haven't seen any out there and also there is not much information on the web either. Just a couple of reviews and that is about it.

Idea is to share experiences and knowledge on this digital playback system from owners, people that has listened to it, with first hand experience for whatever reason, or just for those who may be interested to ask questions as potential future owners...

If you are reading this, you probably know the system is composed of 4 pieces: A transport, the power unit of transport, and 2 mono DACs for each channel.

Additionally, you can use (and I do recommend it to a great extend) the clock G01, so overall a 5 pieces system.

This digital replaces the old 01 which has been in the market for a long time and brings new interesting features it will be nice to discuss in depth.

Some are quite new or at least not seen before in high end audio like the use of a proprietary transfer protocol (ES-LINK 4) using HDMI cables.

it allows direct DSD and 352.8kHz/48bit PCM ultrawideband digital transmission using an HDMI cable for each DAC.

http://www.esoteric.jp/products/esoteric/p1d1/indexe.html

But most importantly, to discuss it's music reproduction qualities and different configurations and experinces.

Despite being out there for a while already, I can't understand why there hasn't been much said about them. I guess Esoteric should expend a bit in adds to get the atention of the pro audio publications... :-)

Anyway, I have these for less then a month, and despite having very little hours on them, they are quite something. However they are still evolving so will wait on my side a while still to talk in detail about the sound.

Hope this thread is of use and helps owners, potential ones, and others gather and share lots of information.

Thanks
Eli
eelii08
Hey Eli, from her grim disposition, I venture to guess that the young lady in question might be unhappily hitched to a financially profligate audiofool.... Uhrn, I meant, a dedicated audiophile!

G.
Hey Eli, do you mean... Is G. still a suffering audiophile.... And is his better half getting inspired by the young teller in question? The answer is... Definitely yes, and, not sure.... SWMBO has not reached for the yellow pages for a family loyer yet.

Meantime, I am working on a review / break-in blog for the amazing High Fidelity PCs designed by Rick Schults in Dallas... Even the entry level is really amazing stuff.... I will create a thread before long on Audiogon.

For the rest... All's good, except for working almost 11 hours a day... At age 61, I'm starting to notice it *grins!*

G.
Hi,

As the owner of the po-1,do-1,GorB clock system for four years i too had much anticipation for the new Grandioso line but balked at another 4 [or5!] box system...

Much of what has been learned by Esoteric in those last years are present in the KO-1x all in one box!

To be fair the Grandiose affords a much greater deal of complexity as regards both different set-up options and variables to contour sound...

My goal, at 63, is to have the most undiluted representation of PCM as i believe it was never the disk, just the loss in the transfer of data!

Therefore i want no up or oversampling, 356,DSD, USB etc. etc. et al...:-)

Also the number of PC's and additional wires are now better spent on my other mistress...ANALOG!
Just one man's fight not to buy into a THIRD form be it streaming or downloads.
HI Azjake.

I don't think it is only about set up options. The dedicated boxes with power supplies, specially keeping it far away from transport, plus the mono DACs do make a remarkable difference. I guess 4 or 5 boxes is the downside to it, but if you get a chance,try to listen to them in a familiar system. Would be great to hear your impressions.

Best