Esoteric P5/D5 Opinions please

has anyone here tried using a different transport other than esoteric's to connect to the D5 ?
I read that a large part of the p5/d5 excellent performance comes from the D5 converter ?

Also, what would be a better move: buying an xo-3se or a D5 using a cheaper transport ? ex would be something like a nad, cambridge or cec player with digital output ?

tks for inpts

Tbooe,

Tks for reply. I'm thinking that myself.
Other thing about the D5/P5 is that one need to use two sets of balanced xlr digital cable which can be quite costly + two sets of power cables.

I think the x03se would be a better choice in the end rather than the separates.

If to get with x01 d2 i would probably just opt for the accuphase dp78 which is very nice as well.

No intention of starting a war here but sometimes value becomes a consideration. Player Y might be better than player X but at what cost and how much better is it?

## cost / value is a consideration, otherwise, its always better to aim for the "best" or better units.

Not all systems and owners, for that matter, are sophisticated enough to appreciate the differences between the X-03SE and X-01D2

## am sure there is a noticeable difference betwee these two units but again, the cost might be too high for my wallet to absorb.

So is the person buying the X-03SE "settling" or is he "value conscious"?

## in my case, more like value. but if i could afford it, i'd opt for the p5/d5 or the x01 ltd.

audiofiel

would it be safe to say that in ranking, the best would be:

p3/d3
x01 d2
x01 le
x-03 se

Does x-03 se capture around 80% performance of the p3/d3 ?

No, its not the second coming. The P-05/D-05 desparately needs the help of the G-03x master clock generator to really sing. Without this, a number of integrateds eclipse the combo and as such offer far better value for money.

*** Kiwi,
WOuld you say that the X0-3se might represent a better value than the P5/D5 if the clock generator is not added to the combos ?

Tks.

thanks Kiwi, thats of big help.

I'll seriously consider the x-03 in the future.