Esoteric P-03/D-03 or Esoteric K-03

One note on something written above, P-03 and D-03 do maintain full DSD for SACD all the way from transport through DAC decoding and playback. There is an option to convert DSD->PCM and PCM->DSD however you need not choose this. The DAC chips in the D-03 are 'dual-mode' in that they can accept DSD or PCM signal inputs; they are unique from what I see in the industry in that regard.

As far as the P-03 and D-03 sounding clinical, lean and bright, I've found that this is often a function of the cabling, power cords and other equipment that are involved in the system. With my current setup, the P-03 and D-03 do not ever sound clinical, lean or bright. Choice of decoding, upsampling/clocking, etc...also figures in.

This may start a healthy debate however from some units I've heard, 32-bit DAC chips are not always better just because they are 32-bit. I've heard units that use them that don't sound as good as what comes out of the D-03 and a very few that equal or better it in some ways. I'd say forget the technical stats (32 versus 24, etc..) and let your ears be the judge!

I heard the K-03 both with and without the G-0Rb clock at Axpona 2011; the unit was amazing. The K-03 was playing straight through to an Esoteric amp; they later added the C-03 pre-amp to the circuit and the performance took another big leap. Esoteric has done an amazing job packing performance, musicality and their usual excellent build quality into the K-01 and K-03 units....I don't suffer from the clinical, bright and edgy sound that some P3/D3 users have reported but if I did not have the system I have I would definitely give the K-01 serious consideration. Having all that performance in a single box does simplify life (cabling, power, etc....)...

The K-03 was an impressive single-box player that I enjoyed hearing more than the DV-50s and UX-1 Limited Edition that I owned several years ago. It's RBCD and SACD playback were very good, spacious and musical without being edgy or bright. It could have been the room or the use of the K-03's line attenuator volume control in place of another pre-amp however it did not give 100% of the space, articulation, musicality and sound stage I am used to having at home which definitely is an unfair comparison with the P3/D3/G0 separates together with the cabling and room I have. The K-03 was drastically better overall than the UX-1 Ltd that I referenced above and better than any other single box unit that I've heard. The fit, finish and build quality are typical Esoteric high-end perfection. Where the K-03 playback opened up and excelled dramatically in all categories is when the Esoteric team switched over to running the K-03 into the C-03 pre-amp. That was a world of difference and safely the combination I would focus on (or other great high-end pre-amp of your choice) and spend the cash for versus using the K-03 without a pre-amp. I have heard and read from people that have heard the K-03 as well as the K-01 that that K-01 exceeds the performance in in every category over the K-03 by a good margin and that if you can afford it new or used, that the K-01 is the unit of choice. They did say that the K-01's direct mode (no separate pre-amp) is very good however the best combination (for them) was the use of a high quality separate pre-amp.

Insofar as advising you as to whether you should focus on the K-series versus the P3/D3 series today,....to be honest, I think you have to hear them both. I can tell you that I am extremely happy after over 5 years with the separates and that I am not looking to swap them out in favor of one of the K units however all of that is a matter of personal preference (and possibly a stubborn nature :-) ). I think the only possible system progression that may await me someday is the new P-02/D-02 setup or matching 2 single D-01VUs or a single D-02 with my P-03U (advised by an Esoteric as a valid upgrade option).

I can get much more specific as to what I heard with track listings, impressions, etc...however I would prefer to do this on email or phone so please let me know if you would like to talk further.

You are very welcome...the K3 and K1 represent a ton of great performance in a more affordable and smaller footprint package. It's amazing to see and hear how far the industry has come in the last 10-20 years...

Thank you...that's great summary article!