Esoteric F-05 Integrated - any opinions?

I took a leap of faith and purchased one.  Very glad I did!

It replaced an Accuphase E-470.  It's still breaking in but is already performing better. 

Hi Stan,

Thus far, I am totally enamored with the Esoteric.  I have about 50 hours on it.  I really can't find any shortcomings at all.  It is noticeably better than the Accuphase E-470 on all counts - especially the warmth which reminds me of my Class A gear I used to own.  It has plenty of power and all the features one could ask for.  Apparently much of the technology for this amp has trickled down from the Grandioso line.  There are lots of programming options as well (naming sources etc.).  Build quality is superb.   For those who are looking for a full featured integrated, with phono and headphone stages coupled with balance and tone controls, I cannot think of a better value today. I think that I can easily live with this integrated amp for years to come and resist my OCD tendencies to keep buying new gear.

Having owned a Luxman L-590AX, Accuphase E-470 and Gato AMP-150, I can say without reservation that the Esoteric F-05 betters any of these by quite a bit.  Since this is a relatively new piece of equipment, I am not aware of any reviews yet.  If you have a chance to audition this amp, please do - you will be very happy you did!

It doubles down on 4 ohms so I really don't think there would be a problem! My guess is that the specs are conservative as well.

This just in!

http://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/esoteric-f-05-integrated-amplifier/

Hi Stan,

The main reason for replacing the E-470 was due to what I considered to be a more of a "clinical" sound than what I liked.  I had plenty of power to drive my current speakers at the time (B&W 803 D3) so I gave up the Class A warmth of my Luxman L-590 AX to meet the needs of my speakers.   I then moved to a new home with a dedicated, but much smaller audio room in which the B&Ws did not play too well.  I sold them and went with Aerial Acoustics 7T and then went on a quest for a slightly warmer, realistic sound.  This was accomplished with the Esoteric IMO.   In my environment, the Esoteric works better by about 10% in terms of order of magnitude. 

Don't get me wrong, the Accuphase is a marvelous unit, just not my cup of tea.  Also, the Esoteric comes with a phono stage where as you have to purchase a phono card or use an external phono pre-amp with the Accuphase.

cmaronmurphy - I found that my F-05 seemed to open up fully at about the 100 hour mark.  Using my Aerial Acoustic 7T speakers, I can't say that there was anything lacking in terms of presence in the top end. 

ktliao88,
Congrats on the new acquisition!  I am glad that you and your wife are happy with the F-05.  It's a great integrated amp and for the money, there are few others than can compete when considering all the built in features it has!  You should continue to see slight improvements in sound quality over the next 50 hours or so.  This amp also responded very well to experimenting with different power cords!

pitr122,

I owned a Luxman L-590AX for a couple of years.  It is a great integrated amp.  Nothing like the sweet Class A sound!  I owned a few amps since that time so my opinion may not be spot on. The F05 is probably more dynamic than the Lux and maybe more alive but they both have different sonic characteristics.  I was very pleased with my F05 but "bit the bullet" and purchased an Accuphase E-600 which gives me the best of all worlds.  If my budget was <$10,000, I would definitely consider the F04 again.   The Thiels can be a bit of a challenge so synergy is important.  In-home trial would be a must IMO.