ULF, I had the opportunity of auditioning both the Teac Esoteric X-01 and P70/D70 combos in a couple of different occasions.
For redbook performance they sound extremely similar in my view. I do consider them great players. My findings, and associated observations from a few other Agoners are found at:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1090867688&openfrom&3&4#3
In the post referred above I compared the x-01 against the Burmester 001 and the Bel Canto PL1-A. I liked the X-01 a great deal better than the other two.
The X-01's advantage is to be able to play also SACDs and not to need the 3 (three) digital interconnects required instead for the P70/D70 combo. Furthermore, it has been said that the X-01 has a slightly newer version of the VRDS transport than does the P70. Conversely, the advantage of the P70/D70 combo is to have a volume attenuator, so at least in theory, it will not require a linestage. I have however not listened to this player without a linestage.
Having said all of this, I am currently leaning towards a slightly different, or derived solution. Alex Peychev of APL-HIFI has based his upcoming ultimate player (NWO-1) on a heavily redesigned Esoteric UX-1, close kin of X-01, that among other things, will sport a tube output stage, extensive reclocking and a digital attenuator. The device is not complete yet, but promises to be amazingly interesting. A summary of this project can be found at:
http://www.aplhifi.com/NWO1.html
Furthermore, a plethora of additional information on this project can be glimpsed on the APL forum site at:
http://www.aplhifi.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=35
As there are some indications that even the lower cost latest implementation APL 3910 may -- according to some -- already have bettered the mighty DCS stack (without external Verona clock) as discussed at:
http://www.aplhifi.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=48
I have reason to believe that the upcoming APL NWO-1 may end up to be quite. . . scrumptious!
