Dodgealum, I have contacted a few Esoteric X03-SE owners as I was very concerned that there was something wrong with my player. The few I spoke with are in the same boat, one at 250 hours found player unbearable (I could not listen to mine) and two told me that it took 800 hours and they were shocked that it was even better after 1,000 hours. Please let me know your thoughts. |
Guys,
I have a pretty high end system and a pretty good ear and have been doing this for quite sometime. I consider myself a very critical listener and am not "just getting used to it". I have used my words carefully. I assure you the sound is/was unbearable. For the record, I have not experienced this at such drastic means before. |
Gentlemen, as I said, I am not looking for a debate, but, rather, input from others who have experienced breaking in gear over long periods of time.
I would greatly appreciate those inputs.
Thank you. |
Guys,
The Estoteric site itself says 250 hours. In my system, that was just a consertive estimate. The system is now "there" at 760 hours. One issue that I have found is that the Esoteric is so revealing, that it has uncovered flaws in sone cd's that my previous kW did not reveal, so I did switch to other "test" cd's and all does sound wonderful. |
When I used the term "test CD" I was referring to good old standards that I knew like the back of my hand.
For my "final test" of the esoteric, I had used a certain femlale vocal, which, after playing the CD on other systems, made the flaw in the recording evident. While my prior kW sounded awesome, and I had thought revealing, it did not exploit this flaw. I no longer use that CD as my final benchmark. This CD (Rebecca Pigeon) was just toted in one of the stereo rags as a great system "test" CD.
Thank you for you good wishes, and your input. |
Guido,
I appreciate your input greatly, not because you agree, but because of the detiled info you provided which has actually assisted me in my task. I was going to post last night but, instead, just had to run in the sound room and listen to some Yo yO Ma ( I also wemt back and read some of your other posts, and, I did upgrade to a Python Helix Vx last week). His Cello sounded amazing.
Thank you for yor refreshing perspective. |
Thanks, Dodgealum. This has turned into a learning experience for all. I have learned that I'm not crazy. |
I played mine through the whole system with music for the 1st 24 hours and than went to the Purist Audio II break in cd for the 6 hour session and than played music again for another 200 hours. I would than alternate between the Ayers CD and the Purist Audio for approx 50 hours on and 50 hours off (music). The first 250 or so hours were at moderate volume (solid state, electrostatics and dedicated room, so no problem-besides, I felt the system could go for a good burn/run in as I did perform some upgrades within the prior 6 months). The balance of my break in is at very low volume, unless I am playing another source, at which time it is still running. |
They do take a long time to break in but once they do... Thanks to Guido, who figured out that the power supply on the large esoteric were good enough that they didn't need power cables with digital filtering, I chucked a python vx cable for a regular python. Loved the difference and upgraded to the anaconda. I am very happy with my shunyata power cord on my esoteric. |
Guys,
I hit the 920 hour mark last night and have been enjoying the player tremendously. It has opened up dramatically. The highs are smooth (s m o o th), and well extended, very clear, detailed and distinct; the midrange is liquid, airy and has the texture I was looking for, and the bass is very well defined and well integrated. The detail has been amazing since 300 or so hours. It has played every CD I have inserted with not a problem. CD's sound incredible but the SACD's are truly amazing. The sound is vey musical and three dimensional with a true sense of presence. Hard to belive it can improve more but other Esoteric owners I have spoken with have said that they have experienced improvements up to 1200 hours. I am now very happy with the player and glad I got it. I am using the balanced connections (Tara Labs The One with ISM on board and Shunyata Python Helix Vx power cable into a Hydra 8). I have already heard things that were not audiable on my Music Fidelity kW SACD player (except for the incredibly loud transport on the kw-this one is silent).
Enjoy the player, Dodgealum. Good luck with it. |
Gawdbless,
No, I don't think so. Poor recordings sound, well, poor. Great ones will sound great. You can't have it both ways. If a CD player makes a poorly recorded CD sound decent, it is adding - or taking away something. I do not want either |
Gawdbless,
(If I had an expensive CD player, I'd have the P03/D03!)
I don't think my player makes poorly recorded CD's sound poor because of a flaw in my system, but rather because it is an incredibly revealing player, and is doing what it should. I don't want a player that masks things, but, rather, reveals all to me. It is like a very good hi-def TV - the good looks good but the bad is, well, bad. (Hi def looks awesome on my Pioneer Elite but standard TV looks pretty bad-).
There's a Miles Davis CD where, in the midle of a track, you can hear foot steps across the soundstage. Some believe you should not hear that, as it disrupts the experience. To me, I want a player which extracts everything from the recording, albeit, good - or bad.
Unfortunately, having a high end, revealing system can be a trade off. I don't listen to them much (anymore) but some of my older rock recordings from the 1970's sound pretty bad on my system, because they were recorded poorly. On my buddies inferior system, or one of my car systems, it is no where near as evident. (If I must play them, they go in the alesis masterlink which is not as revealing).
Funny thing, I had started digital photography a while back with an entry level camera (Nikon D70) and lens. All my pictures looked great from the start. When I upgraded to their top of the line (camera & lens), boy, did my pictures look bad. The new rig showed all my poor photo taking techniques. The learning curve took a while, and now I take pretty good pictures. The trade off is I need top shelf technique to get incredible shots but with the lesser quality rig, technique barely mattered. I feel this is similar to music reproduction. The Phillips DVD player I have in the garage doesn't show any flaw in any recording---nor does it exploite the incredible sound of a very well recorded piece of music. See where I am coming from? I prefer the extra time, work, expense, etc. to get as close as I can to whatever I am trying to get close to. That's what rocks my boat. I understand it may not be everyone's cup of tea. |
Gawdbless,
Not a contradiction at all. I do no want any component of my system to add any coloration, or subtract any recorded info, from the music I listen to. Pretty simple. It means I want a neutral system. Add nothing - subtract nothing. Just a clear window to the music. I know it is impossible but that is my ambition, and that is what I strive for. |
