We received our K03 which I wanted to evaluate before we took the plunge for the K01.
I have been in professional audio sales for 25 years previously working for Sound by Singer and Innovative Audio, and I have heard almost every uber expensive piece of digital out there, and the new K01 and K03 are remarkable pieces of engineering.
Most of the time Esoteric's players were extraordinary in terms of their build quality but I always felt the sound to be somewhat mechanical.
The new K03 after a bit of break in has completely challenged my perceptions of digital. The Esoteric floats a huge 3 dimensional image, has superb resolution, excellent bass and dynamics and sounds remarkably liquid.
Place one on top of still points, use a good power cable, put 2 HRS damping plates on top, and sit back and you will marvel that you can get such a remarkable degree of resolution yet it is so listenable.
This player is one of the true achievements of modern digital design, personally I have always felt the Meitner and their offshoots to lack a sense of warmth, clean but a bit sterile sounding for me, same with the big DCS incredible resolution but a bit dry, listen to a KO1 and you will realize you are in the same class as the uber players for a lot less money, and with the famous build quality that Esoteric is famous for.
I found the player sounds best with no digital filter employed, you have so many possible settings so you can tune the sound to your taste, also the player needs 500 hours of playing time before it sounds really good.
Dealer disclaimer
I have been in professional audio sales for 25 years previously working for Sound by Singer and Innovative Audio, and I have heard almost every uber expensive piece of digital out there, and the new K01 and K03 are remarkable pieces of engineering.
Most of the time Esoteric's players were extraordinary in terms of their build quality but I always felt the sound to be somewhat mechanical.
The new K03 after a bit of break in has completely challenged my perceptions of digital. The Esoteric floats a huge 3 dimensional image, has superb resolution, excellent bass and dynamics and sounds remarkably liquid.
Place one on top of still points, use a good power cable, put 2 HRS damping plates on top, and sit back and you will marvel that you can get such a remarkable degree of resolution yet it is so listenable.
This player is one of the true achievements of modern digital design, personally I have always felt the Meitner and their offshoots to lack a sense of warmth, clean but a bit sterile sounding for me, same with the big DCS incredible resolution but a bit dry, listen to a KO1 and you will realize you are in the same class as the uber players for a lot less money, and with the famous build quality that Esoteric is famous for.
I found the player sounds best with no digital filter employed, you have so many possible settings so you can tune the sound to your taste, also the player needs 500 hours of playing time before it sounds really good.
Dealer disclaimer