If the Esoteric K03Xs CD/SACD Player has harsh leading and trailing edges...
- Thread starter John57
- Start date
Funny, I owned the Esoteric K-01 and I found it very musical. I used no tweaks on my cables or power cords. Which can cause issues with the balance of the signal where highs become forward etc. If I played 1950s Sinatra the playback was as warm as the tube gear the cording was made on. Played current produced over processed compressed music and it sounded that way. Loved the K-01 one of the better CD players I owned. I downsized after selling it to a Marantz SA-10 which sounds very good also but does not have the grunt of the K-01, and that is due to the K-01's huge power supply. Marantz is elegant, and does not push you with detail but lets the music flow once you get the settings right and allow burn-in of about a month or more.
Outside topic K-03 (sorry):
I follow Phillyb .....
I listen via Esoteric K-01, standard (factory) power cable, output via RCA & silver spiral cable (Qunex) to X-over 5-way (horn) ...
It's music in heaven....
Allez, salukes.
Karel (happy owner K-01)
I follow Phillyb .....
I listen via Esoteric K-01, standard (factory) power cable, output via RCA & silver spiral cable (Qunex) to X-over 5-way (horn) ...
It's music in heaven....
Allez, salukes.
Karel (happy owner K-01)
Thanks.
Very funny.
I have a Marantz SA7S1.
I sold it.
I buy an Esoteric K-03Xs.
Powercord is the Hijiri Nagomi.
Have a great day
I find Esoteric players edgy, analytical and impossible to listen. I think it’s better to have a CD only unit. IMHO Audio Research CD9 sounds great as well as Ayon transport/DAC combo. I believe it’s hard to beat a NOS’ed marantz or philips player with TDA1541 and CDM1,2,4.
Just in case you have not tried this. I find digital to needs clean AC power. Preferably on a separate line.
I've owned 3 Esoteric SACD players, the early ones had an edge the latter ones not. Having said that, my room is now treated with GIK panels, and what a difference they made, so how much was my room on the earlier Esoterics, I now have the K03Xs after owning the K-01, K-01X and it is superb, and I grew up on vinyl. It is not harsh, detailed naturally, and the bottom end if on the record can shake the room. My other unit the Marantz SA-10S1 was excellent also, and beat my K-01 overall in sound, a bargain that player is. So how any player or system and gear sounds in one room/system can sound much different in another. It's like cooking you have to put the right ingredients together to get the taste that you enjoy. It takes work, time, and experience, just buying gear is never the answer to a well-grounded system, fix your room and spend money there it is the best investment you can make, and for God, sakes get TV screens out from between the speakers and the racks, have your amp between the speakers and the rack elsewhere. Let your speakers breathe, and stop all the reflection off TV screens racks, and such. Have a room designed for an audio system.
I have owned a couple of Esoteric cd players .. K-01 and K-01X then tried the P-02X/D-02X transport dac combo and was amazed. Nothing analytical or edgy here. That said it does front end an entire tube system and I’ve noticed I really liked Esoteric digital front ends with tube systems. Someone mentioned system synergy earlier and I’m a huge believer in ensuring all components work together to deliver a more enjoyable musical experience.
George
George
I prefer listen my CD with the ML 360S...
It's a old picture, now I have Magnepan 3.7i...
and Esoteric E-03 is replaced buy an Accuphase C47...
I must to think to sell E-03...LOL
I've always stayed away from OEM CD players from ARC to Cary all had issue after issue, while Esoterics, Sony, and Marantz who built them from the ground up parts included seem to go on forever, my one Sony 7aES I gave to a friend and it worked for 15 years last I heard it could very well be going still. Cary 306 units I had my replaced 4 times by Cary, just have great customer service, all suffered from locking up not reading discs, etc, the reason being the unit ran so hot that it impacted the chip and circuits inside, and after a certain temp the unit had issues, There 306Pro unit resolved these issues from what I understand due to design and part changes. Stick with a digital company that builds their units from the ground up like Luxman, Esoteric, Marantz etc.
Perhaps the older Esoteric CDPs sounded like that but the new XD-models are anything but edgy and analytical. The K-05XD is phenomenal
Last edited:
My comment based on K-01X and other models from the same era. Maybe new models are better now but I doubt that.
+1 on this. I upgraded from a K-03X to a K-01XD. The K-03X, based on AKM DAC chips, was as described, with some glare in the upper registers, detailed but not very musical. The XD machines use Esoteric's new Master Sound Discrete [component] DACs, a game changer IMO. Those who characterize Esoteric's sound based on experience with older machines (lots of these on various forums) need an update. I see quite a few K-01XDs included in expensive high end audio show configurations, probably not an accident.
Similar threads
