Accuphase or Esoteric?


I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a new CD player. I've had an Accuphase DP-78 that sounds wonderful, but has developed some mechanical issues, so I think it's time for a new player. I've been offered a great deal on a new Accuphase DP-600, but also very good deals on an Esoteric K-03 or K-01. The only one of any of these I've heard is the K-03. I have a friend who has one, and we auditioned his against my Accuphase side by side, and found them roughly equal in sound quality, although they were different and we preferred one or the other, depending on what was playing. I'm interested in whether anyone has heard the Esoteric against the Accuphase, and also how much better the K-01 really is. The Absolute Sound review was pretty unequivocal, but I never know what reviewers are thinking, and there is a big price difference. Any advice would be very much appreciated.
skreich
If you have the other high-end gear you will really hear these, then, having both, I would say no CD and SACD stereo player beats Accuphase. The Esoteric seems more dynamic, and the DV 50s is the best kept secret in hybrid SACD playback.

Here is how I see it, the Marantz SA-11S3 may sound as good on a $10,000 system, but the Esoteric K 01 will devastate it on a $100,000 system. Same with the Accuphase, yet the Accuphase has more a natural liquid bloom, while the Esoteric K 01 has a more dynamic presence.

At the same time, the Audio Research CD 7, while not a SACD player, seems to come close to that liquid bloom, or palpable sound of Accuphase, yet is also very dynamic.

The McCormack UDP-1 has a very nice sound in stereo, yet seems to lose some of this when played in multichannel.

I would examine my system, the preamplifier, amplifier and speakers and go form here. If you want great dynamics, the Esoteric is a good choice, if you are using multichannel, the Esoteric DV 50, or 50s has this over other multichannel players.

Then if you are not using very high dollar high-end gear, the Oppo will do well at all and you get Blu-ray!

For me, I go with the Oppo 105 for all movies and Accuphase for stereo only. If you play multichannel SACDs, the Esoteric DV 50, or for better video the 50s, or the DV 60.

The best player for 98 percent of people will be an all in one Oppo,105, or 95, they are very good!

The Cambridge CD/SACD player is also near perfect, if you want one player for music and one for movies.

I think much of this is pointless to debate unless you have the gear and speakers to appreciate the diminishing returns with Accuphase. There are more used Esoteric players available, the K 07, K 03 and the DV 50, all good choices at more modest prices in the used market.
Thank You! Ladycharnet.

did you ever spend time w/ the Esoteric X-03 or X-03SE spinner?

Keep me posted and Happy Listening!
I have a $17,000-ish system including an Oppo BDP-95 and about $1,300 to spend on an upgrade. I have about 60 hi-res albums including downloads on a USB drive and 350 RBCDs.

There are a number of used players on the market that interest me right now and I have no hope of auditioning any of them. The ones I can afford right now include an Esoteric DV-60 (or DV-50), and an Oppo BDP-105 with EVS mods.

Just beyond my reach are an Esoteric X-05, Ux- 3Pi and a McCormack UDP-1 Deluxe.

I worry that the ones I can afford are all very long in the tooth except the Oppo, yet the BDP-105 EVS won't sound that much better than the BDP-95. The UX-3Pi probably makes the most sense; but while I'm saving up for it I would probably loose the opportunity to buy the BDP-105 EVS or the UX-3Pi itself.

Does it make sense to spend money on an Esoteric or McCormack that's already older than my BDP-95? I am only interested in 2 channel audio and my Primare I32 does have balanced inputs.

Help
Got the DV-50 and love it! Prefer the inboard D/A converter compared to my Hegel HD 25
I have a DV-50 and it goes toe-to-toe with my Ayre QB-9 DSD fed from a Mac Mini/Tidal combo. I would agree that it is one of the best kept secrets in digital playback.

I recently had Esoteric replace the drive since I was getting some tracking errors and it sounds better than ever.