What audio system do you have, or plan on getting?

[Daverz]

Soon a Esoteric CD player will arrive, for testing, and if I like it buy. I would like to invite comments, negative or positive.

esoteric K-05 XS.

Thank you.

What does it do that $200 bluray player doesn't?

[The new erato]

What does it do that $200 bluray player doesn't?

Sound superbly. Have you ever listened to the difference between various CD and SACD players on a great rig? I have currently 5 players in various price ranges distributed between 3 setups in various rooms/locations, and they all sound slightly different,

If the difference is worth the cost is another and strictly personal matter.

But I'll give you, they all play discs.

[Harry]

Sound superbly. Have you ever listened to the difference between various CD and SACD players on a great rig? I have currently 5 players in various price ranges distributed between 3 setups in various rooms/locations, and they all sound slightly different,

If the difference is worth the cost is another and strictly personal matter.

But I'll give you, they all play discs.

At the moment I have the latest Nu-Vista player, which is in the same price range.  In that config I will listen to the esoteric player.

[Brass Hole]

Soon a Esoteric CD player will arrive, for testing, and if I like it buy. I would like to invite comments, negative or positive.

esoteric K-05 XS.

Thank you.

I have a lot of Esoteric edition SACDs. Even their discs sound better than other SACDs.  They are the crown jewels of my collection in sound quality.

https://www.esoteric.jp/en/category/super_audio_cd

[petrarch]

Soon a Esoteric CD player will arrive, for testing, and if I like it buy. I would like to invite comments, negative or positive.

esoteric K-05 XS.

Thank you.

Expect plenty of very pleasurable listening. I got an X-03SE nigh on 15 years ago and it is an essential piece in my system.

[Mandryka]

Anyone had any experience of the old Accuphase P300 power amp?

[SonicMan46]

At the moment I have the latest Nu-Vista player, which is in the same price range.  In that config I will listen to the esoteric player.

My word Harry - I hope that you have a good trade-in!    Assume that is the SACD player shown below - looking forward to your comments.  Dave

[Mirror Image]

I've pretty much gone 'discless' since I've been ripping much of collection to my Mac. I seldom play my stereo these days unless I'm watching a movie or TV show.

[Daverz]

Sound superbly. Have you ever listened to the difference between various CD and SACD players on a great rig? I have currently 5 players in various price ranges distributed between 3 setups in various rooms/locations, and they all sound slightly different,

If the difference is worth the cost is another and strictly personal matter.

But I'll give you, they all play discs.

I have my own experience of chasing high-end sound, though at a lower price point, at least for CD players and DACs (I've spent more on speakers, tube gear, and turntables).  I think the differences in digital playback are illusory.


 

[Fëanor]

Well I've received the VTV/Purifi amp and can answer your question, Mandryka.  The Purifi runs pretty much stone cold so I'd say you could safely put it in pretty much any enclosed space.

This Purifi  epitomized the "accurate" amp.  It is super high definition.  Truly, I've never heard violins sound more lifelike, and for that matter Jazz cymbals sound realistic, crystalline brilliance than I've heard before.  On the downside, maybe, it adds no warm and does nothing to mitigate the sound of all-to-common over-bright or otherwise rough recordings.

The long term repair prospects are unclear once the original modules are no longer available.  Of course, the power supplies are replaceable, and there are even now pin-compatible replacements for the buffer modules.

Interesting. Post again please in a couple of months time. The reason I say this is that someone I know with some Class D said to me recently that initially he was impressed with their brilliance  and sense of revealing all the music. But after a  few months he started to find the whole experience tiring. The problem could have been the way the amp was reacting to his speakers, which were a large load (electrostatics.)

So your acquaintance is correct about the brilliance being tiring ... and it's not just for electrostatics.  The Purifi amp is VERY revealing of the bad in recordings as well as the good.  Purifi offers no compromise  It's a struggle to listen in particular to overly-bright recordings -- and there are far too many of those.

An option I'm considering is installing Burson V6 op amps on the VTV buffer board in place of the present Sparkos SS3602's.  I believe that the Burson have higher distortion than the Sparkos, but mostly 2nd and 3rd order harmonics which can mask harshness from both recordings and other equipment.

[Mandryka]

Just arrived on 14 day approval, Conrad Johnson MF80. Try not to notice the mess!

Bloody hell, it's heavy! It feels as heavy as the Krell but more awkward to move because it doesn't have handles!

First impressions with Spendor SP1s.

Image is good - no sense of music coming out of a box, all the singers in a motet by Josquin firmly in their place, even when there are, for example, eight of them singing different lines of music. Depth to the image too. There's more of a feeling of people making music in a real space, a room ambience.

Certainly better bass than with the Rotel that I was using before. Not too bright, the sound seems well balanced.

This is not a grey and lifeless amp at all.

Will live with it for a few days and report back. I think it's a winner, positive feelings so far (after an hour!)

It's a gentleman of an amp. It is refined, nuanced and civilised. It's certainly not a monster, and it's not a pussy cat. It is an American gentleman.

[T. D.]

Just arrived on 14 day approval, Conrad Johnson MF80. Try not to notice the mess!

Bloody hell, it's heavy! It feels as heavy as the Krell but more awkward to move because it doesn't have handles!

First impressions with Spendor SP1s.

Image is good - no sense of music coming out of a box, all the singers in a motet by Josquin firmly in their place, even when there are, for example, eight of them singing different lines of music. Depth to the image too. There's more of a feeling of people making music in a real space, a room ambience.

Certainly better bass than with the Rotel that I was using before. Not too bright, the sound seems well balanced.

This is not a grey and lifeless amp at all.

Will live with it for a few days and report back. I think it's a winner, positive feelings so far (after an hour!)

It's a gentleman of an amp. It is refined, nuanced and civilised. It's certainly not a monster, and it's not a pussy cat. It is an American gentleman.

Congratulations, nice gear. I believe Rotel amps are known for having a "bright" sound. I have a Rotel integrated amp.

[Mandryka]

It is certainly bringing Stockhausen's 1998 Momente to life!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

It is certainly bringing Stockhausen's 1998 Momente to life!

Glad that you are having fun trying out a new component.

Neat fireplace surround!  I trust that you don't use it (due to where your speaker is placed)?  Or do they normally reside (and do their duty) elsewhere?

PD

[Daverz]

First impressions with Spendor SP1s.

Those Spendors are big.  But couldn't they have made them big enough to reach the floor?

I'm done with massive class A amps.  If my class A/B Bryston ever gives out, I'm going with class D.

[Mandryka]

Glad that you are having fun trying out a new component.

Neat fireplace surround!  I trust that you don't use it (due to where your speaker is placed)?  Or do they normally reside (and do their duty) elsewhere?

PD

I make a fire there all the time when it's cold. The speakers don't get hot -- these old fashioned fireplaces are so inefficient, you hardly get hot if you're right on top of it! Remember Tom Brown's Schooldays, when Flashman roasted him on one. 



There used to be a pub in Oxford, I forget the name now, The Boar maybe, which had a huge log fire in the winter. If you were twelve inches away, you'd be warm, If you were three feet away, you'd be cold.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I make a fire there all the time when it's cold. The speakers don't get hot -- these old fashioned fireplaces are so inefficient, you hardly get hot if you're right on top of it! Remember Tom Brown's Schooldays, when Flashman roasted him on one. 

There used to be a pub in Oxford, I forget the name now, The Boar maybe, which had a huge log fire in the winter. If you were twelve inches away, you'd be warm, If you were three feet away, you'd be cold.

No, I don't recall reading or watching it...sorry.  Hope that your damper fits and works well then so that you aren't losing a lot of heat up the chimney.

PD

[DavidW]

I've pretty much gone 'discless' since I've been ripping much of collection to my Mac. I seldom play my stereo these days unless I'm watching a movie or TV show.

Same.  I have ripped cds, digital downloads and streaming.  I don't have a cd collection anymore and have not for 2 1/2 years.  I just use external dacs and I can connect computers, phones, tablets whatever and have first rate sound.

[DavidW]

Anyway I have a Marantz amp, Kef speakers and an SMSL dac. I just now upgraded my Kef bookshelves to Paradigm towers. I was using an svs sub but no more.

[Fëanor]

Same.  I have ripped cds, digital downloads and streaming.  I don't have a cd collection anymore and have not for 2 1/2 years.  I just use external dacs and I can connect computers, phones, tablets whatever and have first rate sound.

Do you download mainly high resolution, (higher than 16/44.1)?  While I totally believe that the recording & mastering are far more important to the result than resolution per se, some instances of hi-rez make mre thing it can sound better -- this is especially true now that I have a near SOTA low distortion repro chain.