The Luxman DAC is fabulous, providing a warm, rich, seductive tone that I adore; coupled with the Aurender, it makes for a great digital system. You have a really fine system. Esoteric offers three clocks from about $9,000, all the way up to $26k for the Grandioso. To me, such an audio component must be utterly transparent and relentlessly musical in sound, timelessly drop-dead gorgeous in appearance, easy to use, absolutely reliable, and provide state-of-the-art sound quality that won’t be significantly bettered for years. In this age of distraction and materialism, too much information and too much stuff could be obscuring or interfering with our brains’ pathway to joy. In their brochure, they call it “Pursuing Radical Evolution, Not Nominal Improvements.”. Stimulating the brain’s reward center with music can unfortunately lead to an addictive, obsessive-compulsive search for an elusive holy grail of auditory nirvana, and along the way we can accumulate too much stuff. It’s rich and weighty without any sacrifice to precision and agility – a difficult balance that not many players get right. A hybrid-construction turntable bridge also contributes to the suppression of rotational vibration and run-out. The price of admission to Club Esoteric may be steep, but you get what you pay for. The K-05Xs is equipped with a USB interface to allow it to receive digital data from a computer or an Esoteric N-03T Network Transport. All this was enough for me. Declutter your life and you’ll feel better, she promises. To better control resonance, the VOSP mechanism is rigidly held in place by a substantial steel plate and an 8mm-thick, large-diameter steel stabilizer. The K-07X may be Esoteric’s base SACD/CD player-DAC, but it’s also the beneficiary of electronics and overall design philosophy trickled down from more expensive models. I’ve long enjoyed the brooding menace of Tom Hamilton’s bass-guitar line in Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.” (You should know that any psychiatrist who loves classic rock and grew up in Boston would have to reference this song.) They own a number of patents on proprietary designs and unique hardware mechanisms that ensure that they’ll continue to push the boundaries of digital music reproduction, and won’t be copycatting or reverse-engineering anyone else’s products or relying on anyone else’s supply chain anytime soon. If, like me, you’ve acquired more than one good digital source and are looking for a destination player, now is the time to sell your accumulated gear and get an Esoteric. If you’re a vinyl snob who thinks digital tone could never be as texturally rich, colorful, and enthralling as your LPs, think again. In addition, the transport’s spindle motor adds to reading accuracy with an advanced servo control that uses rotation-detection circuitry. Hi Milpai. I did not enjoy the CD filters? At another friend's house, I heard the Esoteric X-05 for many years, and when he replaced it with the SA10, the X-05 was quite fresh in my mind and I could see it was sensational, in detail, richness, tonality and exciting pace. Esoteric also states that in “the digital range, full advantage is taken of high-bit data gradation to minimize calculation errors and provide faithful conversion to analog.”. I urge you to experiment. Eventually I will replace the Oppo with a DAC - this will take some time though. SACD-player Esoteric K-03x review. I was not able to succeed. Through the K-07X it popped, commanding attention even as Paul Buckmaster’s majestic orchestral arrangement spiraled around it. I had 2 Marantz CD players, the SA8001 and SA8005, both sounded like mid-fi and the controls on both were cheesy and small.  Didn’t have an opportunity to compare the brands and I’m sure I’d have been satisfied either way. I’ve not looked back with regret. Feel free to question me.Â. One of the major features of Esoteric is their attention to power supply. Imho you simply have not heard what the 205 can give you until you have significant ac power isolation and conditioning.  I own the Oppo 205 as well, with reference level Spectral amp and pre, connected and powered by Oracle Level MIT Cables. Like. I have the original K-05 and have listened extensively to the Marantz SA-10 in an ideal dealer audition setup using the same speakers, amp and preamp I have at home. David Feb 19, 2015 GADGETS, REVIEWS 0. De Esoteric K-05Xs Super Audio CD speler is het belangrijkste model in de K serie, gebruik makend van het beruchte VRDS-NEO Super Audio CD transport mechanisme.   The Marantz SA-10 has introduced a listening experience that compels me to keep playing CDs. ESOTERIC-QVCS Playing a significant role in the F-07’s balanced dual monaural configuration is Esoteric’s proprietary Quad Volume Control System (QVCS), which incorporates a total of four precision switched resistor ladder networks operating in unison to independently and electronically control the left and right channels and their positive and negative phases. Similar in appearance to the significantly more costly Esoteric flagship K-01X, the K-03X represents a commanding presence. Does anyone have personal experience with the newest line of Esoteric SACD CDPs? I’m currently running the baby XA25 so this seems a viable alternative too. The tray is opened and closed, and the disc clamped, using a unique differential gear system that is also proprietary to Esoteric, and that ensures exceptionally smooth loading of discs. There was no way I would part with the K-05 for the Marantz.  It was clearly not on the same level.  The K-05x has better DACs and other improvements over the K-05 so it will be in a different league than the Marantz it is safe to assume. Tough decision and lack of demo facilities makes it even harder! These are the all-in-one units (Transport, DAC, Clock): K-01Xs lists $22k K-03Xs lists $13k K-05Xs lists $8500 The Esoteric standalone clocks are getting rave reviews but my god the G-01X lists at $20k. If you developed an appreciation for rock’n’roll in the 1970s, as I did, you probably owned a TEAC cassette deck and made some awesome mix tapes with it. The K-05Xs, the third incarnation of the K-05, heralds a new renaissance in playback as an art form. Everything except amps? The USB driver and Esoteric HR Audio Player playback software may be downloaded free from our website. The Xs lets nothing get in the way of the music, providing an emotionally involving playback experience. I've had mine for 4 months and it finally broke in thank god that was a long time!. I have upgraded ac power conditioning,step by step, with the excellent ears of my lady partner evaluating every step of the way. vs 80 lbs. Inserting the Esoteric K-07X in my home system of Luxman power amp and Vivid speakers provided results just as impressive. From a functional standpoint, the Esoteric has the silky-smooth operation, the weighty remote, and the rock-solid reliability one would expect in this price range. A number of digital-to-digital conversion options are also available for the PCM format, such as PCM-to-DSD conversion. Beck’s Morning Phase, released last year on 180gm vinyl, comes with an interesting download option titled “The Vinyl Experience.” This download of the entire album, meant to sound like an LP, includes subtle surface noise, a longer pause between the last song on side A and the first on side B, the sound of a needle being dropped onto side B, and, at the end, the sound of a needle in the run-out groove. One of these days, maybe, I should drag my Oppo to the local Marantz dealer and compare it to the Marantz. A new chapter has been written in the history book of digital players.  I’m sure other reference players provide similarly expressive and quality listening experiences, but the SA-10 has been a revelation for me. Friends think I’ve been a bit overboard in my attention to ac power - until we do a listening comparison. I plug everything into the conditioner but I don't think there is a hard fast rule regarding this. When can I start to focus again on the message -- the music -- and stop obsessing about the medium?”. When I’ve heard Esoteric DACs with and without the clock, it’s the last bit of icing on the cake. Well, in addition to playing a PCM digital signal at its original sampling frequency, upconversion of it by 2x, 4x, or 8x is also possible. Mind you, I’m not endorsing the K … As always your mileage may vary. This design reportedly achieves excellent channel separation. The SACD playback was excellent. My office stereo consists of a Shindo Laboratory Cortese single-ended-triode tubed power amplifier, a Shindo Masseto tubed preamplifier, Horning Eufrodite Ellipse speakers in Indian applewood, and High Fidelity CT-1 Enhanced speaker cables. What Kondo proposes requires that you ask yourself a different question: Will the next upgrade be that destination piece, that holy grail -- a purchase that will bring me lasting joy? The third generation of … https://inatinear.blogspot.com/2019/04/power-management-for-frugal-audiophiles.html. The K-07Xs captures the essence of the Grandioso K1, with revolutionary innovations throughout the design. The K-07X is a perfect fusion of ravishing industrial design and extraordinary engineering that resulted, for me, in amazing listening experiences. The USB driver and Esoteric HR Audio Player playback software may be downloaded free from our website. Esoteric Xs is a small business with a big reputation for quality and innovation. Kondo encourages us to keep only what brings us joy, and to get rid of everything that doesn’t. A 34-bit D/A processing algorithm gives the K-07X an encoding resolution that is a staggering 1024 times greater than that of 24-bit encoding -- the four 32-bit DACs combine to convert the high-resolution 34-bit PCM signal to analog. Anwar, I have a new SA-10 on the way. If you’re a well-heeled music lover looking for a one-and-done digital cornerstone for your first system, the K-07X is it. Their second album, Quiet Is the New Loud (CD, Source/Astralwerks 019), is notable not only for its achingly beautiful melodies, but also for having given a name and impetus to a rising genre of like-minded musicians. 1 Comment Maybe it’s time for one of Japan’s best-kept audio secrets to become a bit less – well, esoteric But now, Melco is not compatible, and it will not work as a Roon endpoint.Â. Indeed, I have the same record and played in both the table and the spinner they sounded very similar. The Esoteric also burnished and highlighted Steven Tyler’s piano in “No More No More,” also from Toys -- and I found that while I usually am content to play air Les Paul to this song, the rollicking piano was just as compelling -- at least until Joe Perry launched into his ridiculously tuneful guitar solo, which fades out way too quickly. The K-07Xs captures the essence of the Grandioso K1, with revolutionary innovations throughout the design. Kondo makes a simple but powerful claim: a dramatic reorganization of your outer world can result in correspondingly profound changes in your inner world. All contents available on this website are copyrighted by SoundStage!® and Schneider Publishing Inc., unless otherwise noted. The Xs lets nothing get in the way of the music, providing an emotionally involving playback experience. The K-03X is Esoteric’s penultimate CD/SACD player. Esoteric K-07X SACD/CD Player/DACPrice: $6000 USD.Warranty: One year parts and labor; three years with product registration. As the read lens moves, the laser beam is able to maintain ultraprecise perpendicularity to the disc surface, to guarantee accurate reading. But Scott Sefton at Esoteric assured me that almost all Esoteric products are shipped via white-glove freight. They have also gone on to win numerous awards as they have come to be regarded as the … Esoteric’s flagship model is the K-01X, and at $20,000 retail and 68 pounds, it’s a beast. Good as the X-05 had been, the SA10 lifted the friend to a greater level of ecstasy. The interface supports DSD rates up to DSD512 (22.5MHz) and PCM data up to 768 kHz / 32 bits. The Xs lets nothing get in the way of the music, … The K-07Xs captures the essence of the Grandioso K1, with revolutionary innovations throughout the design. The Esoteric K-05 is essentially an update of the X-05 SACD/CD player. In the K-07X’s power supply, Esoteric uses the electronic double-layer capacitors developed for their Grandioso C1 line-stage preamplifier to provide an impressive total of 500,000μF of capacitance per channel, for exceptional reproduction of low frequencies. A new chapter has been written in the history book of digital players The K-07Xs captures the essence of the Grandioso K1, with revolutionary innovations throughout the design. Got ill so I sold the K-01, and the only player I considered was the Marantz SA-10S1. I found the Esoteric was comparable in sweetness, but even better with resolution. The SA-10 will sound a bit more organic bringing you closer to the vinyl-feel. Been offered a K-05XS but if reliability is an issue I'll pass. I am also using the UDP-205 exclusively as a DAC for the past several months and have not played a disc. My analog source comprises a Garrard 401 turntable in a flamewood plinth crafted by Woodsong Audio’s übertalented Chris Harban, an Ortofon TA-210 tonearm, a Miyajima Shilabe cartridge, and a Bob’s Devices Sky 30 step-up transformer. Joy, and no weaknesses captures the essence of esoteric k-07 xs review Esoteric K-07X in my home system of Luxman amp! 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