Esoteric SACD digital playback systems

[admin]

The appointment only makes me wonder. Unless maybe it's the super expensive high end and it's the kind of customer that you want to give an individualized experience where the dealer is not distracted by other customers? I don't know. Most of the places I have visited have regular store hours but will also do appointments. If I am looking for something very specific to audition I give them a courtesy call and arrange a time to come down. I figure it's easier for them and when I get there the unit is ready to go for the demo.

[AnotherJohnson]

The appointment only makes me wonder. Unless maybe it's the super expensive high end and it's the kind of customer that you want to give an individualized experience where the dealer is not distracted by other customers? I don't know. Most of the places I have visited have regular store hours but will also do appointments. If I am looking for something very specific to audition I give them a courtesy call and arrange a time to come down. I figure it's easier for them and when I get there the unit is ready to go for the demo.

There is nothing wrong with appointment based service. But if it’s by appointment only, that’s just a hobby, or a snobby.

In Nashville the guitar stores are often open by appointment only during some hours, but the serious stores have regular hours too.

One store used to close during their normal business hours to serve a “star” who needed privacy. They’d kick everyone out in order to serve the star.

[Big Dog RJ]

Yes, the new line of the "XD" series under the K banner is now Eso's top of the line. My one was just replaced by the K05-XD, and they also offer the K03 & K01-XD digital playback systems. Then of course there's the mighty Grandioso K1, which is like the mother ship of all. I've listened to the entire range, and each one has quite a remarkable improvement over certain areas; Transport mech, DAC chip set, Discrete DACs in XD series and enhanced power supplies. Having auditioned the K01-XD, I thought it was superb! Then my Eso dealer told me to try out the G01-X Master Clock with my digital player, and low and behold, lookout! That combination really took off!

So, at the end of the day, what I learned from the ESO line up is if you want to spend the big bucks on digital playback, you can certainly go for the top of the line in the K01-XD series, then get the G01x clock and improve things further. And then, get the mono-DAC system (dedicated DAC's for each channel) and this improves things even further! I had the opportunity of sampling all this wonderful candy... and then realized it was well over the 110grand mark (Transport, dual-DACs + clock) what the heck! Now my humble K07-xs works just fine, and with a clock it's mighty fine! The G01x clock is most probably the last thing I'd include in my ESO setup as that final upgrade.

A very good mate of mine has now upgraded to the K03-XD and says he's loving it! Earlier he had the older Grandioso player but never tried out the newer clock. If he had kept his Grandioso and just upgraded to the G01x Master clock, he would have realized what a fine combination that would have been. The beauty of the ESO digital is, once you've decided on a particular type of preference in sound from the base SACD player, adding a Master clock is the most significant upgrade (if you're looking for that true 40% improvement). Upgrading to their latest and greatest is fantastic but it's not 40% of significance because even their previous units are really well made & designed. So it's definitely the clock. The other thing with the VRDS- Atlas and VRDS-Neo transport mechanism is that because they're heavy gauge steel and metal alloys, the bridge that runs on rails needs a bit of maintenance every now and then, otherwise it tends to lose its absolute quietness, which can affect the sound. In their previous players (K07,05,03 & 01-xs) models, they don't have this issue with the transport mechanisms. It's not a big deal, and when it gets noisy you'll know! Just have to send the unit in for service. (Note: info was provided by one of the main techs at ESO Spore, who had done work on these transports). Other than that very minor service thing that requires attention every few years or so, these transport mechs are the best of their kind in digital playback systems... (according to him).

That was the same dealership where I had the opportunity to audition the full ESO line, including their dual-DAC system, that was just awe-inspiring! And it wasn't even connected to their top of the line Grandioso... it was the K03-xs model. Goes to show what extraordinary performance levels can be achieved from well built DACs.
I'm not surprised that both Sun Coast Audio and Rhapsody are ESO dealers... they always have top tier gear.

Cheers maties, and enjoy those very finest tunes!
RJ