Esoteric X-03 SE...any opinions

I'm going to dem the above CD/SACD player very shortly.....the rest of my system is Proac D40R's and an Esoteric A-100 amp.

It's an older model now but at a good price but as much as I get a lot of enjoyment out of my Oppo 105 I probably do spin discs more than anything else and still have the option of using it anyway. Blu Ray audio hasn't given good returns but Downloads have been great.

I've done a quick search on here (and indeed elsewhere) and can see it is highly rated my only concern as stated above it has no digital in but I can trade that off against the fact I may be getting close to sota digital replay on CD/SACD. I've invested heavily in SACD the last year or so..

Be very interested to hear from owners or those familiar with the machine. Thanks.

 

Hi
I have an Esoteric X03SE and Lindemann 820S.
Long story and quite dull, but I wanted to chip in with my thoughts:

I relocated from Preston to Middlesbrough (UK) in Dec. last year. Unfortunately my Kharma speakers don't get on well in the new music room.
I thus decided to give up on speakers and listen through my Senn. HD800 cans. I was lucky to buy a relatively young and unused 820S for a good price - it retailed at 12000 UKP/21000 USD. It's an excellent player on RB and SACD; loads of detail and yet also very musical and listenable for long periods. There's no digital 'glare'.

But I began to miss the wallop of listening to music, esp. bass, through speakers. So I've bought some used active ATCs; the plan is to use the pre amp in the 820S to drive the ATCs.

Now, being a relatively lazy chap, I didn't want to have to swop the 820S back and forth from the ATCs to my headphone amp (Senn. HDVD 800).
So I thought I'd indulge myself and buy another SACD player
Having owned an Esoteric SA60 and SA50, I was curious as to how much better the X03SE would be.

It only arrived on Wed but ....... wow; not only is it on another level to the SA players but I prefer it to the 820S. Yes, it may be a few years old but the build quality is fabulous; it weighs more than many amps.
The sound is uber detailed; it's early days but so far, I'm not being annoyed by the digital glare. It's extremely musical and a joy to behold and listen to.

One note of caution: Check that the tray loads properly, when mine arrived the tray wouldn't open. I did a factory reset and all seems well.
I don't imagine you'll be disappointed with the X03SE

 

Forgot to say that I also use an Oppo 105D in the TV room; I love the Oppo and it's a great machine with many facilities and functions; as such, it's incredible VFM. However, as you'd hope, the X03SE trounces it in terms of SQ on 2 ch. SACD (IMO of course).

 

Thanks-the interesting thing for me is the leap I've made in sound via speakers and then trying a variety of amps last year-I am on a totally different level from my old Luxman L505U/Proac 2.5 set up-I should be though due the cost difference. The Oppo 105 has been through all of that-to be frank the improvements have been so marked and to a level I have never heard. I find it quite hard to imagine what a big improvement to the front end will bring.

Hope to find out tomorrow.

 

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Proacs, I've owned a few and they've all been natural and musical. I bet your D40Rs are stunning, esp. with the Esoteric amp. I hope the dem goes well, I was surprised by the changes between the Oppo, Lindemann 820S and now Esoteric X03SE. Source first and all that ........

 

Wow. Yes this is an amazing disc spinner.

Detail, resolution, the whole shebang and that's from cold.......pretty much flawless.

 

I thought you'd enjoy the dem; will you buy it?

 

I think it's going to be hard to resist however I still have the nagging doubt about not being "future proof" I really would quite like the option of using the Oppo into a state of the art DAC as well as having a better disc spinner so that takes you into the K series and I have seen some ex-dem's at relatively good prices less than the % drop on this.
Need to weigh everything up-listen too much today as well so got a bit fatigued by the end of the session I really don't usually listen to 5/6 hours of music in a single day I've got a few days to live with this guy.

 

Interested to hear what you've decided. I'm currently mulling the K-05 and K-03, both of which have a full complement of digital inputs, although that is not my foremost requirement. I have to agree that while the Oppo is a fantastic "swiss army knife" it's playback could be better. It cannot compete on redbook CD's with my Bryston CDP so I'm looking for a decent upgrade for RBCD and SACD and will relegate the Oppo to DVD-A and BD-A, which comprises a small amount of my listening time.

Have you compared the difference in price/features for the one you are demoing versus the new 'K' models?

The PS Audio Memory and DSD DAC would be a contender but why design a DSD DAC and pair it with a transport that does not play SACD?

 

I replaced a BCD-1 with a K-03 - it makes the Bryston sound like you built it yourself in shops class... Don't hesitate, it's way more than a decent upgrade. It's a MASSIVE upgrade.

D.D.

 

I understand that you have an update!

 

Yes I bought the X-03SE it was effectively a third of the price than it was new. I did speak to my dealer about the K3 and K1 but really price wise even second hand they were out of my league.

I'm still tweaking my set up as you do when you get a new component but as stated above it is a leap forward.....detail, resolution, deeper sound staging it effectively does everything better.

My dealer tends to think this has been a golden era for Esoteric he doesn't believe these machines at this standard will be repeated under the ownership of Onkyo.

So yes I'm a happy bunny.

 

Mmmmm...

 

And your point is?

 

Yummy. I want one, too.

 

Depends on your budget but they do appear from time to time and because of a lack of digital in they are losing more value than a component of that quality normally does......

 

Just picked up a used X-03SE for a fraction of its original price, it sounds amazing. Incredible low end authority and smooth extended highs. Beautiful. A big step up on my Sony XA5400ES which was no slouch itself. Agree that no digital input is a downside (which the K series has), but the huge savings for SACD of this quality frees up cash to buy something like an Auralic Vega separately.

 

I hope that Teac/Esoteric are free to operate more or less as they have been. Gibson Guitar, I believe, is the parent company. Onkyo is a subdivision just as Teac is.

 

Have you noticed any transport noise while it is playing? Diamond Dog mentioned it, along with a few others and a friend had one in his setup on demo and decided against it for the same reason. I've got a pretty quiet environment and with no local dealer I'd hate to be sending expensive components back and forth for repair/replacement right out of the box. Seems ridiculous at this price point.

 

That's good to know. I see you are in Sunnyvale. Where did you get the Esoteric?

 

I haven't noticed any transport noise issues, but have only had it less than 24 hours...

 

Audiogon.

 

Good stuff. Thanks. Are you going to sell your 5400?

 

Excellent! I'm wondering then if the noise is reserved to the newer 'K' models?

 

I didn't really want to post this but my dealer was and remains pretty down about the K3 for this very reason.

He found the transport a problem for night listening and in general wasn't a fan of the K3....he's a very opinionated guy and I tried to talk to him about the K3 (which reviews rated very highly) but he thought the only genuine step up from the X-03SE was the K1 which he loves.

I believe the K3 has a different transport from my machine and the K1. Personally though I wouldn't discount the K3 I'm not sure the transport "issue" would bother me......