Hi,
I'm considering upgrading my source in the next months/years.
I was leaning towards the Esoteric K-05Xs but have been reading a lot of great stuff about the SA-10 from Marantz. Price is not that different and both give you the ability to use as DAC which would be great for me to hook my streamer.
Just curious. Why didn't you stick to Esoteric? Do you find the SA-10 a better sounding machine?
Thank you!
Greetings from Lisbon, Portugal

Well, there are several reasons:

Firstly, contrary to the review I had read in The Absolute Sound, in my system the Esoteric X-05 never sounded as good as the reviewer said it did. (I chalk this up to differences in our systems, rooms, etc., NOT any bias or misrepresentation in the review...) It didn't have as much depth, dimensionality, naturally-rich timbre or analog-like "bloom" as I wanted. But played through the my tubed Hovland preamp for the first 7 years it was good enough. But for the last 3 years I have primarily used the Pass XP-30 preamp for practical reasons, & the X-05 sounded "thinner", far more "digital" & usually less like real music through the more-revealing Pass preamp. (Although a small number of recordings actually sounded better.) Whether that's a reflection of my system as a whole, or my musical preferences, or the Esoteric's performance, is hard to say. Perhaps a bit of all 3. So I was hoping for a more analog-sounding player this go round.

Secondly, I was not a happy camper about the much-vaunted Esoteric transport self-destructing, even though it was 10 years old. And there is only one authorized repair facility in the whole U.S., 3000 miles away from me, & if they needed a part from Japan it might take many months.

Thirdly, I did look into getting a new Esoteric, and was advised by 2 different, & trustworthy, Esoteric dealers that Esoteric had temporarily "abandoned" the U.S.: high-value orders they had already placed were unfilled, their calls to Esoteric were being ignored, & they eventually had to offer refunds (& apologies) to their customers. That was the final straw for me: I wrote off Esoteric & looked elsewhere. (Although apparently they are now back in the U.S. market, using a different distribution network.)

All that being said, I have seen some reviews, & read the Esoteric Forums of another online site, and the new Esoteric "XD" series (K-03XD & K-01XD) have gotten rave reviews & are supposed to sound far less "digital" & far more "real" than their predecessors. (Although not as analog as the Luxman D-10X.) But all those models are far more expensive than the SA-10 or the K-05Xs. I don't know if the Esoteric K-05Xs has the "older" sound or sounds more like the XD models, or if there will eventually be a K-05XD.

I would have considered a similarly-priced Luxman as well, but they discontinued all their old models, and so far have only released the D-10X, which I would love, but can't afford. There are not many choices for an SACD player between $5,000 & $12,000 in the U.S., so I went with the Marantz.

I can't comment on the sound of the SA-10 in my system, as I still haven't received it! (I ordered it in July.) Apparently Covid affected the supply chain. It is finally in transit, so I should have it soon.

If you have a chance to listen to the Esoteric in addition to the Marantz, see what you think... Good luck with your choice!


SOTA Cosmos TT (vacuum, Electronic Flywheel), SME V, Koetsu Rosewood Signature
Marantz SA-10 SACD player, Alesis ML-9600 mastering CD burner, Nakamichi 700 ZXE Cassette Deck
Pass Labs XP-15 phono stage
Pass Labs XP-30 (SS) & Hovland HP-100 (tube) preamps
Edge G8+ laser-biased monoblocks & Classé M-700 monoblocks
Rockport Atria & Infinity IRS Beta Speakers
Audience AU24 SX Phono cable, MIT Shotgun ICs, Shunyata Alpha v1 SCs
Revelation Audio Labs 'Passage' CryoSilver Reference DualConduit DB-25 umbilical cables for Pass XP-30
Shunyata Denali 6000T power conditioner (on BBA platform), Shunyata Alpha NR v1, Delta NR v1, & Venom HC PCs. Also PS8 & 2 Venom Defenders.
Audio Magic Ultimate SHD Bees Wax Fuse, Synergistic Research Blue & Black fuses, Hi-Fi Tuning fuses
Klaudio LP200 ultrasonic RCM

Dear Crumhorn,

Thank you so much for taking your time to write such a
thorough reply to my question. Sorry to hear about your disapointment with Esoteric regarding performance and customer service. Totally understand your position.
Really curious about the Marantz performance compared to the Esoteric. Please let us know about your impressions.

Thank you and greetings from Portugal
Andre

I have had the SA-10 connected to my system for almost 3 weeks now, but as it may be a defective unit, I won't describe what I hear until I determine it is functioning properly. :sigh:

Wow, sorry to hear that.

I'm still amazed by my SA-10 in combo with the PM-10, daily.
For a few months, I've been enjoying filter 1, dither off, and the noise shaping 3rd 1 settings. Sounds perfect to me.

I hope you get it figured figured out.

Thanks, Christian! My new SA-10 is definitely malfunctioning, & Ivan has ordered a replacement. I don't have a streaming setup, but it will only play odd-numbered tracks (files) from the USB thumb drives I have plugged in! (Multiple drives, file formats, resolutions & sources...) It displays an "Unsupported" error for all the even-numbered tracks, sometimes accompanied by scary-loud static that had me fearing for my speakers! Also the "Repeat All" setting got ignored for many discs, requiring lots of "trial & error" to find discs I could successfully use for break in.

Actually I hope it's defective, as I HATE the way it sounds on red book CD's, (very shrill, one-dimensional, bodiless instruments & voices, and a congealed mess when more than a few instruments/voices are playing simultaneously) & find its SACD sound OK but disappointing (similar, but much milder.) Given everything I've read, that isn't the way it should sound. It does have better soundstage depth than my Esoteric X-05 had, but in every other way sounds inferior.

It may take a few months to get a replacement unit – I'm hoping for the best...

I've heard this player.
It should play deliciously!
I'm sure your unit is defective, and Ivan will take care of it. :thumbsup:

With the descriptives you use, there’s gotta be something seriously amiss with the one you received.

A thread on another forum recommends turning off digital outputs and the headphone amp if you don’t plan on using them and suggested the sound quality improved. I’ve always had mine off but they’re on by default if I recall correctly.

Good luck and I hope the situation is resolved quickly!

The sound I described is with the digital outputs, headphone amp, & display turned off, & 300 hours of break-in on CD & 100+ on SACD. After a 5-month wait to receive it, it's very disappointing... :sigh:


SOTA Cosmos TT (vacuum, Electronic Flywheel), SME V, Koetsu Rosewood Signature
Marantz SA-10 SACD player, Alesis ML-9600 mastering CD burner, Nakamichi 700 ZXE Cassette Deck
Pass Labs XP-15 phono stage
Pass Labs XP-30 (SS) & Hovland HP-100 (tube) preamps
Edge G8+ laser-biased monoblocks & Classé M-700 monoblocks
Rockport Atria & Infinity IRS Beta Speakers
Audience AU24 SX Phono cable, MIT Shotgun ICs, Shunyata Alpha v1 SCs
Revelation Audio Labs 'Passage' CryoSilver Reference DualConduit DB-25 umbilical cables for Pass XP-30
Shunyata Denali 6000T power conditioner (on BBA platform), Shunyata Alpha NR v1, Delta NR v1, & Venom HC PCs. Also PS8 & 2 Venom Defenders.
Audio Magic Ultimate SHD Bees Wax Fuse, Synergistic Research Blue & Black fuses, Hi-Fi Tuning fuses
Klaudio LP200 ultrasonic RCM

I was thinking it would be hard not to consider the bad experience and be objective when the new one arrives, but I had a similar experience with my Levinson pre-amp, yet here I am, a few years later, still very happy with the replacement they sent me. Let us know what happens!