Looking for a CD / SACD player. Also, tell me about Esoteric

I have the McIntosh MCD12000.  Love it.  Check w/Reference Analog, they have a slightly used one for under 9k.  It has a built in DAC as well. 

@gthirteen

Several Oppo successors have emerged over the last couple of years, but despite sounding promising on paper, they haven’t had much of a profile in the stereo-audiophile press. They’re more often reviewed in home-theater magazines.

Most promising is Magnetar’s UDP800 universal player, which received a rave review in the current (June-July 2024) issue of Sound & Vision. It boasts an Oppo-like interface & form factor, excellent build quality, similar CD/DVD/BD/SACD/whatever disc compatibility, & 2024-class format support (including 4K UHD video). Downside is no phone app & a lack of multi-channel analog outputs. But, as you suggest, the latter may not be a dealbreaker in this age of HDMI & reasonably priced external DACs.

And the pricing is pretty reasonable, similar to that of the higher-end Oppo models back in the day. When one of my Oppos finally dies, this may be the first replacement option I consider.

I highly recommend a used Cary CD 306 SACD player (professional version) if you can find a used one which is rare today. This is an older and statement flagship CD/SACD player from Cary Audio circa 2008 thru 2015/2016. It did retail for $8k when it was first released in 2007/2008 and was in the same price range as other high end units from Esotetic, EMM Labs, DCS from the same era. This is a professional version or the upgraded version of the highly acclaimed CD 306 SACD player back then. Sonically it’s a highly musical sounding player with its natural organic analog like sound. I AB compared this player to a new current model Marantz Reference SA-10 CD/SACD player (current retail $7500 new) and this Cary is better sounding in all areas than the SA-10. No contest. 

This player was superbly built and was built like a tank weighing in at around 45 to 50 pounds. It can also be used as a standalone DAC it has digital inputs : AES EBU digital, coax digital RCA & optical digital. This unit runs warm though - I mean temperature wise since the analog output stage runs in class A design. It is a class A design player and a fully balanced design internally. It’s equipped with 4 separate transformers power supplies with oversized large numbers of power supply capacitors reserve and windings. Got separate power supplies each feeding power to disc drive mechanism (disc transport), DAC, analog output stage and control circuitry. It has 8 DAC chips : 4 is for DSD or SACD playbacks and the other 4 is for PCM (CD or hi res PCM when used as a DAC) playbacks. It’s configured as 4 DAC chips per channel for the total of 8 for both channels.

Again this unit runs very warm cause it is a class A design circuitry - its output stage runs in class A, not some cheap op amps. Make sure that you leave a lot of space around. Cary Audio is still supporting this model, so if you need a new laser assembly for the disc drive you can send it in to Cary for a new laser assembly or for any issues you may have. I sent mine in to Cary last year to get a new laser.

The Oppo and Magnestar players are inexpensive players.  They are not in the same league as the Esoteric players.  Teac now makes a great player with the Esoteric VRDS  transport for around $3500.00. The only thing I don’t like about it are the rack handles.  

good point about repairs, I bought a belt kit and

this being available helped me decide

Complete xa5400es Laser Assembly

Knowing you could buy another used one if it breaks, still hard to beat it's sound, and a few around $1k each add up to far less than your budget. 

I bought a spare remote control when 1 popped up with low price.