2. digital
  3. 1408733671

Esoteric K-01/K-03 Owners

Spoke today with the local Esoteric rep to get information on plans to upgrade existing K-01/K-03 users to the "X" model which is only sold overseas at this time. Here is the scoop. (Dates/$$ are only close estimates)

- Upgrades will be available in October 2014
- The upgrade will include the USB input mechanism to support 2.8 MHz DSD (Native Playback) and 384 MHz (PCM).
- There are several other upgrades to the K-01x/K-03x that are not included. (i.e. Upgrades to the DAC, Transport, etc that are direct descendants of the
Grandioso Model).
- Approx. cost is $1,000 (Not including 2-way shipping)
- The Upgrades will be provided in California

Info. on K-03x: http://www.esoteric.jp/products/esoteric/k03x/indexe.html

Beats having to buy a new DSD Dac in the meantime if patient.

Ciao
gocubs999
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Hi John, I hope that at some point Esoteric will see it fit to add a mass storage bay to its players... Imagine a hypothetical K-01Y, similar to K-01 and K-01X, but with a user accessible slot where an arbitrarely large SSD can be inserted.... Redbook would be loaded onto the SSD from this player's own transport, while Hi Resolution material would be loaded from an external source via USB, SPDIF, Ethernet, or something else.

G.
jon2020's avatar
jon2020
986 posts
 
Guido,
That day will surely come and I will patiently wait with you for it.
Meanwhile, the NA8005 is doing very nicely right now for me.
What flabbergasts me is that a product like this that costs about 1% of the total system cost can elevate sound quality by one third! Kudos to the march of technology. In this case, it is indeed the law of diminishing returns in reverse! - the new law of accelerating returns.
mcduman
6 posts
 
there is a review of k-01x k-03x in the latest issue of the japanese Stereo Sound magazine http://store.stereosound.co.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=2003

any japanenese speaking subscriber care to translate?
jon2020's avatar
jon2020
986 posts
 
Mcduman,
If you use Google Chrome, it will translate any language into English on the fly. I have read the short intro to the x models, their improvements over non-x, and the modifications avaialable for non-x, but no full review yet.
Jon.
zephyr24069's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
zephyr24069
1,241 posts
 
Has anyone done a full in-home or other compare of the K-01 or K-01x against the P-03/D-03 and P-02/D-02? I'm looking to potentially simplify things at a reasonable (medium-high versus extremely high) price point and the K-01x may be a good answer for me all things considered versus the P-02/D-02 given price point. I listen to alot of RBCD as well as XRCD (various formats), K2HD and SACD. Thanks in advance!
More to discover