MORE Esoteric problems
Good point cleeds. I'd like to know of people who used the service and if were they happy or not. also, I emailed one of the Japanese guys on ebay who sells Esoteric players from Japan. I asked him how much it would cost to send a unit from Japan to here. His answer was $800.00 to $1000.00 dollars. I guess TAP wasn't gouging on shipping. I remember selling two LP's to a guy in Japan a few years ago. The only way to get them to him and get a confirmed receipt was FED Ex. It cost $125.00 for shipping. (I got $800.00 for the LP's). |
jnovak ... It isn't just the "X" series that needs to go back. From what TAP told me two years ago, the UX models go back too. AND the current model of their integrated amp and one other model from their lineup needs to go back to Japan as well though which one escapes me right now ...For all of the angst over this, I've yet to hear anyone claim that his Esoteric component actually had to be returned to Japan for service. |
Wow! Thanks arch2. This helps, "I hope". The next question is; Is TAP Electronics aware of this change in procedure? I'm going to email them. I'm not optimistic. I'll keep you all posted. ALSO, It isn't just the "X" series that needs to go back. From what TAP told me two years ago, the UX models go back too. AND the current model of their integrated amp and one other model from their lineup needs to go back to Japan as well though which one escapes me right now. Lets see what happens. Joe |
Tomcy6 When talking to the representative he mentioned “the x series players from 11 or 12 years ago.” I didn’t enquirer further to the specific models beyond what he mentioned. I got kind of sidetracked at that point as he was describing the process of why those transports needed to go to Japan and what needed to happen. I didn’t push further but it still didn’t make a lot of sense to me as to why it needed to go back. |
Jafant At Axpona this weekend I did ask the Esoteric folks about the jig alignment issue. They realize this is a real issue with customers. There response was this type of procedure only affects the older X series players. I asked if it was possible these transports could eventually be fixed in the states and for a number of reasons I still don’t quite understand (microscope, special jig table, expertise in Japan) those will still need to go to Japan. What they have started doing though is to remove the transport from the player in their California repair facility then ship only the transport to Japan reducing shipping costs. Wait time for completed repair will still be an issue albeit with reduced shipping costs. Hope that helps. |
I’ll come to the defense of the K-01X. Over time I’ve added to it a SRS 10mhz master clock, a better power cord, a LessLoss 64x Firewall, and a Star Sound Rhythm platform. It has been responsive to these tweaks and has proved fantastic both as CDP and as a standalone DAC in conjunction with Roon DSD128 upsampling and SOtM endpoints. However, I am curious about the top Chord DAC and Scaler, which I have not heard. |
@riaa_awards_collectors_on_facebook You mention the reason that the K-01x sounds worse to your ears...and yet that reason is exactly why many people would want an Esoteric! The ability to delineate a marginal recording from a superior one! Unfortunately, the vast majority of Classic rock is recorded poorly, but I don’t believe that the resulting poor SQ from the recording can be placed at the feet of the Esoteric! Personally, I want a player that reveals the quality of the recordings and all their warts and issues....while at the same time being able to present a superior sound...if the recording warrants that. With the Esoteric, I can hear that exact ability. YMMV. |
As an owner of the Esoteric K-01X 30th Anniversary model I can say without hesitation I would never buy another Esoteric. The Dac pales in comparison to the Luxman D-08U. Esoteric is highly overrated as a Disc Player. The Chord Dave/Blu2 Combo also sounds a lot better to my ears. I play mostly Classic Rock stuff and Esoteric is totally unforgiving of mediocre recordings which unfortunately is the vast majority of my collection. I think most people buy Esoteric due to the name recognition...I know I did. Save some money and potential headaches/heartaches down the road and grab a Luxman/Chord/MSB and even possibly a T+A. Im sure there are others. |
Luxman has their own corporate presence in the US for the last few years, Luxman America. They handle NA sales with stock of product as well as servicing facilities in the US. |
daveyf, you must have read my mind! I had just picked up a replacement CD player in anticipation of selling my Esoteric. It is a perfect wave transport and a PS Audio NuWave Dac. It pales in comparison to the Esoteric! Thinking about it, does a new buyer of an Esoteric CD player care about servicing the player 15 years down the road? Probably not. Anyone willing to shell out $13,000 for a cd player is going to trade it in at maybe eight years or so. Does Esoteric feel obligated to maintain their players for 2nd or 3rd generation owners? Probably not. So. right now I'm in limbo. Maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and let TAP send it back to Japan one day. Right now it's working great. I was somewhat troubled by the information given to me by TAP. I'm not sure that they did ANYTHING to my player beyond a cleaning by means of a cleaning disc. That's another conversation though and only a gut feeling on my part. Can anyone recommend a CD player they feel equals the Esoteric? Thank you. Joe |
Perhaps look at it this way. Your older Esoteric player can still be worked on, there are still parts available for it...and there is a US group that does most of this work. That is a whole LOT more than a lot of other folks can say about their experiences with digital gear that offers none of the above...and is now essentially a ‘boat anchor’. |
OK, I'm back from vacation. I received the player back from TAP. Very strange! It plays SACD's perfectly. It seems that there are more questions than answers to this one. Did TAP clean it? Did they adjust it? I don't buy the idea that bouncing it in transit has a positive effect. At this point I guess I'll keep it for awhile to make sure it's still operating as it should. Anyone have thoughts on this matter? Joe |
….....this concerns me as well as an owner of a K-01x CD player. I find it very surprising as well as very unsettling that a company as big as Esoteric / TEAC does not have the technical capabilities to repair their products here in the US. Something does not sound right or as I have head but unsubstantiated ; that Esoteric / TEAC has not faired very well since the Gibson buy-out. I would like to see if this decline in US technical support including repairs coincides with the Gibson buy-out. I hope the OP as well as that other gentlemen here on Auduogon who had an Esoteric T-100 tube amp got that finally straightened around. This stuff is not cheap and Esoteric needs to get this situation '' fixed'' real soon. |
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jnovak Thank You for sharing this important information for Esoteric owners.I knew that I had read about these infractions previously. I did not know which series of players affected? It seems to me that TAP could have an Esoteric rep fly to California once every month to provide Customer Service. Additionally, TAP should have a jig arranger on-site. There are many of you guys that support this brand. Sad. |
Here is the 23k hits "archived" forum page 1/3 the way down, that had the thread. " Announcement: Philips SACD1000 announcement" https://web.archive.org/web/20120218130109/http://www.aplhifi.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=35... But it’s been wiped as well, Sony/Philips must have had their heavies visit Alex. Cheers George |
Alex Peychev discovered the sacd rot and had a forum which was abuzz with owners that had these decoder boards problems, but he's shut it down. Since it's introduction SACD has always had many problems, and if it's not with the lasers it was with the horror of the Philips decoder boards with the Mace 2 Furore chip set that had a cancer like bug, that couldn't be fixed, just got worse and worse till the item became a door stop. This effected many players that used it, Krell, Music Fidelity, Philips. https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/21655-sacd-1000-mods.html Then Sony had there own set of problems, it could have been the Philips chipset I'm not sure. Now I'm not sure what Teac used in their Esoteric models, but it's enough for me to steer clear of any SACD players regardless of manufacturer. This is a "Wayback Machine" cached page of the now deleted APL find. But this did fix the problem either. https://web.archive.org/web/20070405083533/http://aplhifi.com/SACD1000fix.html But the many pages of APL forum tech talk about all this is now MIA on the web, CIA stuff from Philips, if you know what I mean. I did find this post from Alex Pychev https://forum.audiogon.com/posts/276524 Cheers George |
Where on earth are they getting these crazy shipping prices from? Just do your own homework on the net and you will find much cheaper shipping options. However that aside I agree it is a silly situation where products sold in the USA for the USA market then need to go to Japan to be repaired correctly! |
