Cary 306 Pro or Esoteric X-01 LE or DCS P8i MKII

The Esoteric X-01LTD uses the Burr Brown pc1704 dac chips, which are the same dac chips as in my Esoteric UX-3 Universal player. I find the sound of the Esoteric to be very smooth, the music seems to flow free and most of my unlistenable cd's are now listenable again. I very much love the Esoteric player and I prefer the dac in the Esoteric to the one in my 1000.00 Wyred4Sound dac-1 which I use for computer based audio.

I would think that the DCS player is as good as the Esoteric player and the presentation is probably very close. I have read that the Cary 306 Pro is quite analytical and detailed but I have also read that quite a few people who bought the Cary thought it was too forward and a bit shrill sounding and many were trying to change the sound by going to a darker sounding cable.

The Esoteric player uses probably the best transport in the business, their very own VRDS NEO transport which is made mostly of metal and aluminum. That is one reason the Esoteric is so heavy, weighing in at around 60 pounds. If it were I, I would look at either the DCS or the Esoteric. I also believe that the DCS has different filters that you can change to alter the sound as their filters are based on a ring dac. (I have no idea what that means)

I absolutely love my Esoteric player and it is the LAST cd/sacd player I will ever buy. It is built to last a lifetime, very reliable and sounds stupendous.

Esoteric is the only low-fatigue digital I've owned. I own an XO3SE, and it easily bettered the Cary Pro it replaced, as well as the AA Prestige and ARC CD7. The only way up is more Esoteric (and money!), or back to vinyl...

Srereo5,

That's some very good info on the Esoteric. I've always liked Cary CD players but I recently found out that Cary is under new ownership and that its not the company it once was.

Disclaimer - I sell Esoteric gear.
Trust me in saying that the new Esoteric K-Series is even better!
Have sold many K-01 and K-03 units to some thrilled customers.
Enjoy..............

Thank you Gfroman. I understand. But the K-03 and K-01 are out of muy budget.

Have you considered the Ayre 5 universal player? It sounds exactly like what you are looking for. You'll probably save some money as well.

It would be helpful to know details of your system. That being said, if you are after dynamic sound, i would go for the Esoteric. I have owned both Esoteric X-03 then the P3/D5 combo and the Cary 303 and 306. I now own the Luxman D-06 which To me it's a bit more organic sounding. Good luck.