Wadia S7i vs Esoteric K-01/K-03 vs MSB

I have not listened to the MSB, but I have owned the Esoteric K01 since its release, and it is fantastic both with CD and SACD.. My previous player was an Esoteric X01D2, the K01 blows it away, it's not even close.

Esoteric is the only one that plays SACD, unless u go with
MSB universal player based on the Oppo 95.

MSB has a great reputation and you rarely see them come up used, but they are a pricey multi box solution once u add up the power base for each piece, the DAC and the cost of the transport and cables.

Easy to get into the $40k range with MSB, which makes the Esoteric look reasonable at $20k list with discounted street pricing.

I went with the K01 for simplicity and the fact i could not justify the cost difference for either Esoteric or MSB top of the line digital separates.

One thing I did not mention on MSB that you might want to consider is their new Analogue DAC starting at $8K and going up with additional inputs and the upgraded power base.

I heard it at Newport show and it is very good sounding piece that is a good value if you use it to replace a pre amp.

It goes to 384 khz and I believe will also do DSD files.

With their Universal transport for SACD, you would be in the $15K range with a couple extra digital inputs. Add $3K if you want the upgraded power base.

Mallen123 and Matjet@ Thanks.
I got a great deal on the MSB, so the price is more or less the same as the K-01.
I think I could live easily with one of them as I think both are excellent, but comparing them directly proved difficult however.
The more versatile package of MSB, eg. adding the superior clock they offer later or upgrading to the better dac-options, seems the more interesting solution.

@ Sequence56, Hi, which one sounded better? the k-01 or the msb?, cheers!