DCS Vivaldi stacks vs Esoteric Grandioso G1, D1, P1 stacks

Caphill, thanks for this inquiry--it's fun to read a discussion about this level of gear because few have addressed every system detail as you have.  If you had said you were not satisfied, the Zen response, "If you are not happy with what you have, you will not be with what you want" may have appeared.  Since you say you are only curious, though,  I would think a dealer would come out personally with a set for you to try--or at least send by white-glove courier.  Did I read somewhere about rubidium clocks guaranteed accurate--at least prior to shipping?  I guess I would even drive for a day or two to pick them up at that price--would love to hear your in-home review of anything you would try--can you describe what you are hearing at present?   

Caphill: Did you ever get to hear the Grandioso stack? You may wish to communicate with users colekat and hddg who have the stack for some time now and can give you alot of feedback. Personally, it’s the finest I’ve ever heard including several other competing offerings and my plan is to do a step-wise upgrade to the Grandioso from the 02-level stack I have today.

A note on Grandioso dealers; yes, there are only 2 in the entire US from what I’ve been told and at least 1 great dealer in Toronto. Ivan at Legend AV (check out AudioAficionado as previously suggested) has a wealth of knowledge and experience with the entire Esoteric family of products as well as having heard many of the competing offerings and decided to stay with Esoteric. I do doubt however that anyone would ship out a demo stack of Grandioso to anyone given that would take having 2 entire stacks at their disposal (1 to retain for in-dealer demos, 1 to ship out for weeks at a time), a financial due diligence process (we are talking about a $80K liability for the dealer) that transcends a mere deposit, etc....

You may also wish to look to hear a P-02X/D-02X or a Grandioso K1 single-box player wherever you are able to; they will give you an in-depth hearing into just how good these products are and the key differences between Esoteric and DCS. The Grandioso full stack is on an entirely different level above all that, but you’ll be hooked quite probably (IMHO).

The C1 pre-amp and M1 Monoblocks are also excellent,...you are definitely on a right path to achieving an ultimate system with a different sound than the one you already have.

+1 on the suggestion to reach out to Scott Sefton whose contact info is given below; he’s a great guy and has really sunk his teeth into the Esoteric line. He can give you some detailed listening impressions and suggestions as well.

+1 on the fact that if you are looking for something different than the DCS stack you are already extremely fortunate to own, that you consider the MSB and TotalDAC or T+A top of the line products. Several people, including Mike who has already commented here, have 1 or the other of them and love them. They are amazing products in their own right.

For clocking any high-end setup, 10 mHz "master clocking" is the way to go. The Esoteric G1 is a fantastic reference-level piece as are any of the Cybershaft or Sforzato reference pieces.

Sorry I was late to the thread....I’ve not been spending as much time keeping up with audio forum threads over the last few months as I would have liked to.

To those having Esoteric K1 or D-02x/P-02x unit’s Which is better sound quality between the 2 models? Not interested in other manufacturers.
thanks in advance 

Well, Ivan "Masterlu" at Audioafficionado said that the Esoteric K1 was better than the D-02X, and surely also better than the K01X.

Also have read about a direct comparison in another system that the K1 is in another league against the K01X and the T + A pdp 3000 HV.

I planned to purchase the K1 later this year, unless something better for less money will show up.

Hmm, I have heard the K01 CDP/DAC combo player, and it didn’t impress me. It was owned by a buddy of mine, and I heard it at his place on 3 day long sessions.

Believe it or not, he sold it for a huge loss and bought the Yggy DAC, which he likes much better. So price doesn’t always equate to performance.... it just sounded sterile to me, very cold and unnatural. Yes impressive for an hour, but left me feeling bored.....