ESOTERIC, WADIA -- How do they really sound?

if you feel unethical about taking pieces home from a dealer when you plan to buy used, why not bring in a favorite CD to the dealer and listen to it there?
assuming it isn't too busy and you're not depriving the salesperson of a possible sale to someone who'e really there to buy, it's no big deal.

by the way, your first sentence (about upgrading the source making the greatest difference) should be taken with a grain of salt: getting a source which is way better than the rest of your system isn't necessarily a good strategy. it makes more sense to look at your whole system, including the room, interconnects, etc. before deciding on upgrades. people on this site can be very helpful if you tell them what components you're working with, your musical tastes, preferred volume level, etc.

Saxo, One of the great trade-offs with buying used, is that it can give you a free education. Once gear at this level takes it's first big hit (to about dealer cost) it seems to level off for a while. Buy and Try I call it. You may find that these toys are the first to go when money is tight, so if you are truly able to play at this level, you can occasionally find pieces offered below market. Then off you go to your dealer, probably armed with more product knowledge than any employee, and negotiate your best deal. To answer your first question, they sound really good! Happy listening!

I've experienced the same confusion (although my research has been limited to machines in the $5K to $6K price range). It's one thing to read diverging opinions as to performance, but quite another to read about noisy transport mechanisms, control software problems, and PCM/SACD integration issues in the BEST reviewed products. It seems like more than one person has reported such problems from Esoteric, Cary, et. al. It gives me pause that, no matter how good they may sound (and both the above sounded very, very good to me), these units may prove mechanically troublesome. I'm still scratching my head.

Yes, it can make assessment very subjective. In relation to your query I will make the following comments, based on my own journey:

I believe speakers make the biggest single impact to sonics-based on their ability to produce a desired "flavour" of sound ie.full range,midrange bloom, fast,smooth or dynamic, or combinations.

the source will refine the "flavour" of sound you may choose.

both become significant as the journey progresses. Thus it may make more sense to buy active bass driven speakers if you value true full range, dynamic sound than to buy a "full range, dynamic" source and small 2 way monitors.
It also generally costs more to get say 20% out of source vs. 20% out of speakers--in my experience.

Thus the advice is choose the flavour of speaker you like through careful and extensive listening, using a good general purpose source, then at some time later invest in the source of your desire(after amp/preamp choice), synergistically considering the speakers.

As far as Wadia and Esoteric go, I have listened extensively to friends Wadia, and others, and own Esoteric. The are both brilliant sources by any standards, although both have their own sonic flavour, strengths and weaknesses. However these weaknesses are in relative terms no more so than any other high end source.

Saxo, some of the most knowledgeable agoners in matters super-high-end digital are often found to roost and cluck companionably on "Reference DACS - An Overall perspective". You may want to join in the fun and post at:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1126769860&openflup&51&4#51