Marantz SA-10 Vs Esoteric K-05Xs

@immatthewj I looked at Music Direct, and for example, the Marantz SA-10 they show it for $7500 and with the 60 day. Other SACD players they have are Denon and McIntosh. But all are brand new, so out of by budget. That's why I was looking on sites such as eBay and Audiogon and others, to find players at a discount.

I've been using an Oppo BDP-95 for the past 10 years with CDs, SACD, Blu Ray audio and Blue Ray movies. But I've been looking to get a dedicated SACD/CD player.

A few models on my list are the Marantz SA-10, Esoteric K-07XS and K-05XS, Technics SL-G700.

The think I like about the Marantz and the newer Esoteric is that the will convert CD PCM to DSD.

What I'd like to know a bit more is the sound difference between the Matantz SA-10 and the Esoteric K-07XS or K-05XS, since they are all around the same price for pre-owned.

Unfortunately I can't find a place in South FL that has the Marantz SA-10 or any Esoteric on display to demo. It's a same. These players are pricey and almost impossible to listen to before buying.

@goose thank you for the information. The new XD models by Esoteric look to use their own in-house DAC that now converts everything to DSD 512. The previous gen XS units used AKM brand DACs and gave the option on CD to not upsample or to go to higher resolution PCM or DSD512. This is that I gathered from reading the user manuals and specs on reviews. The Matantz SA-10 dose a PCM to DSD upsample on all discs as well. But I’m sure they would have a different sound.

Below were the models I was interested in (pre-owned)

Marantz SA-10 

Esoteric K-07XS, K-05XS, K-03XS

Technics SL-G700

Besides the Marantz SA-10 and the Esoteric XS models (not the newer XD), the other player on my list was the Technics SL-G700 as they are going for $1800 pre-owned. I've read good things about that player with both CD and SACD playback, and not being "overly warm" like Marantz.

@regafan I had seen the newer Marantz Model 10 in several videos and it does look quite nice, but I believe the price is between $12-15K for it.

@goose @tomcy6

Since it says the upconversion upsample mode is available for each input (except that a SACD is passed through staying at DSD) does it allow for these settings on normal CD playback? (Picture below).

This is from the K-05XS and K-07XS manual download PDF about upconversion.

It says it available by pressing the Mode button on the front of the unit, but it appears there isn't a Model button on the remote. So you can only make these settings on the unit itself? That's a bit inconvenient.

For filtering, it says

Digital filter setting during DSD playback.

DSDF>*** OFF No digital filter is used . ON A digital filter is used .

So it looks like there is only 1 filter available (on). Some players give multiple filters (3-6)

@goose @tomcy6 I spent some time on the Esoteric site and found the fillings difference between the K-07xs/05xs/03xs models.

The K-07xs uses two AKM AK4493 DAC chips for L and R in a single PCB board, and the units  power supply is a single switched power supply, 

The K-05xs uses two AKM AK4493 DAC Chips but each is on its own separate PCB, and the units power supply is a  toroidal power supply.

The K-03xs uses two newer AKM AK4497 DAC Chips each on its own separate PCB, also uses 2 toroidal power supplies - one for the Analog circuitry and one for the Dgital circuitry.

So there are some design differences between them. But finding used ones online is challenging (within the US 120v and not from Japan 100v model). Have one come across the K-07XS pre-owned so far.

I agree that it would be best to try the Marantz SA-10 and Esoteric players before buying (new or used). But there are only a small handful of Marantz dealers in South FL and haven't found one yet that as the SA-10 on display that I could listen to. And Esoteric only has 1 dealer in South FL.

I did see one post of a person from 2018 that had bought a Esoteric K-07X and the switching power supply developed a hum from the unit itself. They send it in for repair, but still has the issue, so had to pay the pri difference for the K-05K that has the Toroidal power supply and no hum. But this is the only post I can find on line about somone with this issue. I was looking for the newer K-07XS model, but it also uses a switching power supply. For the price, I would think Esoteric would have a Toroidal power supply in all their players.

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/38554-noisy-esoteric-k07x-dac/

So this is interesting.

Currently there is a Marantz SA-10 in black (that would match my other black components) on here listed at $3500. Says that it is a store display demo unit.

(Over on Music Direct they now have the SA-10 New discounted to $5200, which is out of my budget).

And over on eBay there is a Esoteric K-07XS (in silver) listed for $3300.

So between a Marantz SA-10 demo unit and used Esoteric K-07XS, both at the same price, I'm not sure which would be the better sounding unit in my system (B&W 804 speakers, MIT Cables) since I can't find any dealers in my area that still have the SA-10 or Esoteric XS series units on display.

Thanks to everyone for the information.

@goose I had read the other Esoteric players had a bit of an exaggerated high-end , but was fixed on the newer XD models since they are using their own house made DAC (not from AKM). But the XD models starting at the K-05XD at around $10K is far from by price range, and there is no 07XD. That's why I was looking at the previous generation XS (K-07XS/K-05XS). My system is fairly revealing. The 804S speakers (not diamond) are about 12-14 years old, so they are fully broken in and I don't have any ear fatigue when using the Oppo BDP-95 as by disc player. But I've been wanting "better sound" for my large collection of standard CD and couple dozen SACD (99% classical/orchestral).

@jayctoy I wasn't aware that Marantz had a common issue with the laser assembly going bad after a couple years. How do you locate an original laser assembly? Is the player easy to replace the part?

@phillyb Thank you for the information about your SA-10. I had read though the PDF manual a few weeks ago, and saw mention about the different settings (filter, dither, etc) but the explanations were slightly lacking and figured it would have to be heard to tell the difference. Since you had a much earlier Esoteric player, have you listened to the models since then (X, XS, XD)?

@audphile1 I had looked at PS Audio and everything thing make is separate, the Transport and DAC have to use I2S over HDMI connection for SACD DSD playback. Both units are pushing $8-10K from what I saw.

@audphile1 I had read that Luxman is high quality, not sure how they compare with the Esoteric K-07XS or Marantz SA-10. But I looked at the D-06u model and it appears you can only find used ones from 2014-2018 from Japan at 100v. Currently no US 120v ones are on sale on here on eBay.

For anyone who owns (or has listened to) the newer Esoteric XD models (K-05XD/K-03XD) how does their sound compare to the previous generation XS models, since they are now using their own in-house DAC Chip and design.