Quote:
Originally Posted by Crumhorn
The transport on my Esoteric X-05 literally broke into pieces as I was playing a disc several months ago. The single authorized Esoteric repair service in the entire US estimated (by phone) that the cost to repair it would $1,800 or more, plus $170 for a "factory authorized" shipping box, plus cross-country shipping. Several knowledgable folks advised me that DACs had improved so much in the last 12 years that I would be much better off putting that money towards a new machine.
Despite feeling a bit put out by Esoteric, my first thought was to see what their current replacement model would be. 3 different major Esoteric dealers told me that Esoteric had apparently abandoned the US market - multiple big-dollar orders by them had gone unfilled, inquiries to Esoteric by them had gone unanswered, & they had been forced to give their customers refunds. (They also said that no-show replacement parts were delaying repairs.) They all advised me to avoid Esoteric like the plague.
My thoughts then turned to Luxman, but they had just retired their entire SACD player line, & the only new model that will be available this year is the d-10x, which is way out of my price range.
Because I need SACD (I have over 1000 discs), my player choices are limited to begin with. I did a lot of research, & called a lot of dealers, and the SA-10 seems like the best player available within my price range, unless I am willing to wait a year for the new, less expensive, Luxman models, which I'm not. The new Esoteric players have gotten some good reviews, but that does me no good if I can't (reliably) buy one. It's been a very frustrating process.
Although the AC inlet on the Marantz lacks a ground pin, it takes a standard IEC-type plug, allowing the use of aftermarket PCs like my Shunyata Alpha NR - it simply makes no connection to the ground. I currently have a call in to Shunyata to ask if this is a problem. (Richard is on vacation until next Wed.)
As my turntable is also out of commission at the moment, I've been without my system for over 2 months, & I'm going through withdrawal...  |
Sorry to hear that your turntable is also out of commission.
How did your Esoteric transport break into pieces? How old was your Esoteric? If I was given a choice between the Esoteric, DCS, MSB & EMM Labs I would not go with the Esoteric, it would be my least favorite sound profile wise.
If you can find a used Modwright Oppo 205/105 (fully modded) somewhere I highly recommend that. I have heard the Modwright Oppo 105 (fully modded version) in my own system few years ago and was highly impressed. The newer Modwright Oppo 205 (fully modded) would sound even better than the Modwright Oppo 105. The Modwright Oppo 105 is probably one of the most analog sounding digital device I've ever heard for under $15k. Even many much more expensive DACs or CD/SACD players costing much more than the total costs of these fully modded Modwright Oppo 105 lack analog or organic qualities in musical reproductions and fail to capture the musical emotions the way this Modwright Oppo 105 (fully modded) did. they just excel on details and resolutions. The fully modded Modwright Oppo 105 that I listened to few yrs ago was spectacular in all areas. Music simply blooms to the fullest and all musical elements possess full body. It's like listening to a live performance. The Modwright Oppo 205 would sound even better but I had never heard one.
Dan Wright of Modwright claimed that the Modwright Oppo 205 is the best modifications he's ever done. it's his masterpiece. Both Oppo 105/205 disc drive transports are solid and very reliable and last forever.
Either fully modded Modwright Oppo 105/205 (both used) can be had for way less than $7k original new retail price of the SA-10 and would mosl likely trump the SA-10 as I've heard both the SA-10 and the Modwright Oppo 105 (fully modded version). The SA-10 is great but the fully modded Modwright Oppo 105 takes musicality to another level altogether IMO and was cheaper than the brand new retail price of the SA-10.
In regards to DACs getting better over time. It's true but the overall sound quality of disc players or standalone DACs aren't soly determined by the DAC chips & digital filyering. there are many other determining factors that contribute to overall soubd quality of your digital front end components. The power supllies and their implementation and regulations of them, voltage regulations, analog output buffer and most importantly the analog audio output stage (analog audio circuitry). All these don't really improve much over time.
I wished that Marantz put in the three-way prong AC inlet on their SA-10 and its other Reference series products.
It makes it hard for us to get a good quality upgraded aftermarket power cables to use with the SA-10 and other Marantz Reference series gears in order to optimize performance.