Marantz SA-10 Vs Esoteric K-05Xs

@trebor33,I don't think in future I will go with a disc spinner. I made several changes in my system and am at a point I am pretty happy with the setup. I am also using the UDP-205 exclusively as a DAC for the past several months and have not played a disc. All my CD/SACDs have been ripped as FLAC/DSF files and I have an old laptop exclusively serving as the music player. I use Foobar and am pretty happy with the setup. Eventually I will replace the Oppo with a DAC - this will take some time though.

Thank You for the responses folks.
@ptss ,Power conditioning was always on back burner for me. So thank you for bringing this up. But one question is - did you compar the Oppo 205 to any dedicated CD/SACD player? I have been reading on Equi=Core 1800 power conditioning. Looks like that is something I can do.
@cmach ,I am not lookin into the modding the Oppo. So replacing that with a dedicated player would be my path. But I would like to consider what @ptss has mentioned about power conditioning, since I have kepth that on back burner for may years.

Thank You @cmach 

@cmach,What components do yo plug into the power conditioner? Everything except amps? Or do you also plug you amp into the Power Conditioner? I have read both arguments - don't and do plug amp into Power conditioner. It is confusing.

@erik_squires ,Very nice write-up. Thank You for sharing.

@ markmendenhall,Thank You for sharing about the SA-10. Yeah, I keep hearing great things about it. One of these days, maybe, I should drag my Oppo to the local Marantz dealer and compare it to the Marantz.

@anwar ,You have put me in dilemma  :-)I was getting ready to purchase a power conditioner which I have ignored since 2005. I completely trust your and markmendenhall's suggestion. If I were to make a decision today on the Marantz Vs Esoteric, I am going with the Marantz, based on the excellent and detailed feedback you have provided.
I will now have to decide between the Marantz Vs the power conditioner for my next component purchase. Again - Thank you for the details. Very helpful!

@ptss ,Thank You for making me think about power conditioning instead of upgrading the player.

@cmach and @erik_squires ,
Thank you for providing me details on your experiences with power conditioning.

@anwar ,Thank You for solidifying my decision to choose power conditioner over new player.
I have acquired the Inakustik AC-3500p power conditioner in my system. It has improved my system in a way I never thought was possible. @cmach , I tried the amp "direct to wall" and "through the power conditioner" and I too prefer it through the power conditioner. It did not even take me 15 seconds to figure that out.
Yes, a dedicated CD/SACD player may have helped -  but I am not sure it would have made such a difference.

@95dyna ,Good to know on the older Esoteric. Unfortunately assumptions are no good. It is not necessary that a upgraded product may sound better than an older product.

@jafant ,After I added the power conditioner, I have decided to stick with my Oppo. It sounds much much different (for the better) now. That upgrade has fallen off my priority list.

@denon1,I never said:

may be newer models from esoteric do not sound better.

All I said was assumptions are no good. This thread should provide information based on first hand experience, not assumptions.BTW, what does the rest of your system comprise?

I have dropped the idea of a disc player. I am looking forward to getting a T+A DAC 200 soon. I am currently using the Oppo UDP-205 purely in DAC mode since July 2020, feeding DSD 256 though Foobar. I have heard that the T+A performs on a completely differently level using DSD stream. HQPlayer is something that I might explore next.

I decided to go away from disc players, in general in 2020. I used to own a Marantz SA-8260 way back in 2005. The laser is a big issue in Marantz players. I had considered getting a SA10 and use it as a DAC, just in case I needed to play a disc once in a while. But I found that I did not spin a single disc from July 2020 till date. So I decided to go with a stand alone DAC.

@audphile1 , I have not read a single bad or ‘just ok’ review of the SA-10 player. It might just be that, it did not suite your system or preference.

@audphile1 ,

I do not own this player.

@audphile1 ,

I am completely with you when you say that you don't mean to rain down on anyone's parade. All I was trying to say that sometimes certain products do not work in our own systems when most users are reporting gains in their system. In my case it was a power accessory filter. 90% of the folks here were reporting amazing gains when they added multiple such accessory in their system. If only 1 piece was added to my system, it made a big noticeable positive difference. But unfortunately, when I added more than one of that accessory, it ruined the sound. I did report as such here and then another gentleman reported that he experienced the same.

So you did report that the SA-10 did not work in your system and everyone should respect that because you genuinely reported what you experienced. At least folks have a reference of cases where some component might or might not work. I have mentioned it before and will say it again - I rely more on forums and user experiences rather than paid reviewers to make my buying choice. Many times we do not have options to go out and hear a component and in such cases I have found that user recommendations are super helpful. I do take recommendations only from folks who have been on any site for a while and not just a day or month.

Started this thread almost 5.5 years ago. Wanted to at least mention that my search has ended after I replaced the Oppo UDP-205 player/DAC with the T+A DAC 200. I am very pleased and satisfied with the change.