Marantz SA-10 Vs Esoteric K-05Xs

@fauguy , keep your eye on them, because they occasionally have open box or factory refurb specials at significant discounts and still with the 60 day audition. (Mine was a "factory refurb for 2k off of list.) I think there is a way to sign up on MD for their emails that advertise when they have those sales.

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marsa10s1-rb/marantz-sa10-sacd-player-black/1.html

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.

@fauguy If your system is perhaps slightly on the more resolving or bright side I would go with the Marantz.  The earlier Esoterics could be tipped up in the upper frequencies until they issued the XD series.  I owned the the Modwright Marantz SA8005 and now the Esoteric K-03XD.  This is an apples to oranges comparison but I heard enough good things from the Marantz line to figure out the SA-10 would be a good choice.  Just my two cents.