I have had my Esoteric K-03xd since January and am really enjoying it. I don't plan on changing. We don't have a local dealer so I bought mine from Metafi Audio in Oregon from Jeff. It was shipped properly on a palllet.
Just to be clear on what higher end players can do, I have owned three ModWright modified palyers: Sony 999es, Sony 5400 and the Marantz SA 8005. They were better with each update. However, the Esoteric K-03XD beats every one of them as well it should.
At the end of the month I will be getting the latest Esoteric K-01XD se. This will be my absoute end game player for the CD/SACD journey. I have had some very good player over the years including two Modwright Sony's and Marantz players. I currently have the Esoteric K-03XD player and had the opportunity to move up the ladder to the latest 01 player with a good deal from my dealer. The K-03XD has beat all of the players I have had and I think it's due to the new XD dac implementation.
This is an update on the Esoteric K-03XD vs. the K-01XD SE. I just installed the new K-01XD SE into my system so how does it compare to the K-03XD? It will require a few hundred hours of break in. That being said it has more punch, holographic presentation and extended reverb trails and seperation of instruments. I’m not going to say it blows my mind away with such nonsense because the K-03XD is a very good player but the K-01XD SE takes it to another level. I think it may be due to having 4 transformers instead of two and the 71 capaacitors vs. 26 in the K-03XD. Just my thought. Much respect to Jeff at Metafiaudio for making this happen and providing me the opportunity to make the upgrade!
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