Any thoughts on the Esoteric F-05 integrated?
 

Does anyone have firsthand experience listening to, or better yet, owning the Esoteric F-05? What were your impressions? How does it stack up against other similarly priced Class AB amps you've tried? The traits I value most in an amp are dynamics, musicality, smoothness, and good bass. The looks are stunning. Does it have the performance to match?

I think there's a thread on Audiogon that describes one of the Esoteric integrated amps as cooler and more analytical than Luxman or Accuphase, for instance.

The description was something like if 12 o'clock is neutral, Esoteric is 1:30, Luxman is 11:30 and Accuphase is 10:30 or 11:00.

I don't recall the model being described but search for it if you're interested.

Thank you, Christian. I will check it out.

I wish I could remember the thread title but that was the gist from the person that had tried them. I left out that a Prima Luna integrated was somewhere around 9:30 on that same scale.

I did a lot of looking on the A’gon forums and couldn’t find that thread.

Hoping that Greg sees this post. He’s owned just about everything in this segment. Lars is another one who’s got some deep experience with integrated amps in this price bracket.

A friend has one which I've heard several times, and at our dealer many times. It's simply wonderful. Can't comment on the other units I have not heard them. :music:

I own the F-05 and love the way it sounds.
It’s warm enough to sound analog, but still has enough punch in the bottom end to satisfy.

Hi Gary,

It has been a while since I have owned this integrated but I really liked it. Build quality is excellent and it was full-featured. Excellent value for the money and it does everything well.

Trailmusic... Welcome to AA! :wave:

Thank you Greg and Trailmusic for your impressions.