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Esoteric Grandioso P1/D1

Hello, wanted to start a thread on the new flagship Esoteric Grandioso P1 D1 digital system. Haven't seen any out there and also there is not much information on the web either. Just a couple of reviews and that is about it.

Idea is to share experiences and knowledge on this digital playback system from owners, people that has listened to it, with first hand experience for whatever reason, or just for those who may be interested to ask questions as potential future owners...

If you are reading this, you probably know the system is composed of 4 pieces: A transport, the power unit of transport, and 2 mono DACs for each channel.

Additionally, you can use (and I do recommend it to a great extend) the clock G01, so overall a 5 pieces system.

This digital replaces the old 01 which has been in the market for a long time and brings new interesting features it will be nice to discuss in depth.

Some are quite new or at least not seen before in high end audio like the use of a proprietary transfer protocol (ES-LINK 4) using HDMI cables.

it allows direct DSD and 352.8kHz/48bit PCM ultrawideband digital transmission using an HDMI cable for each DAC.

http://www.esoteric.jp/products/esoteric/p1d1/indexe.html

But most importantly, to discuss it's music reproduction qualities and different configurations and experinces.

Despite being out there for a while already, I can't understand why there hasn't been much said about them. I guess Esoteric should expend a bit in adds to get the atention of the pro audio publications... :-)

Anyway, I have these for less then a month, and despite having very little hours on them, they are quite something. However they are still evolving so will wait on my side a while still to talk in detail about the sound.

Hope this thread is of use and helps owners, potential ones, and others gather and share lots of information.

Thanks
Eli
eelii08

Showing 8 responses by zephyr24069

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zephyr24069
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You guys crack me up....think I've heard of that audiophile preferred divorce club before. Living with WAF round2 has it's challenges, I may be headed back to the club again if I am not careful :-) !!!

As for all you guys praising the new 01 generation to such a great extent both to-date and in the days to come on this thread, all I can say is thank you very much, I'm dying to hear these some day soon and am very happy with my P02/D02/C02.....and;

"Lord, Lead Us Not Into Temptation!!!
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Thanks Eelii08,...when will you be updating your virtual system with new component and cables lists and picture? Would love to see your setup....I remember your comparative demos of all the various levels some time ago; it would be great to see the finished product of all that listening!
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I'll join Fplanner2000 in 'muddling' through with my P02/D02/C02 combo; as far as muddling is concerned, I think I'm doing just fine :-)

I can only imagine based upon the comments above from Tom and others who have owned the 02 series, just how good the new 01s must sound but I'll have to stow the 'jealous obsessive audiophile gene' away for now until that lottery ticket comes in!

Interesting thing about the clock (I'm a big fan) with the P02/D02 is that I found that when using the standard clocking modes of the D02 (176.4) to drive the P02, I kind of missed the separate clock but frankly ever since I kicked the D02 clock into 22.5792 Mhz master clock output mode, I've not looked back and question an absolute need to get a 'more precise' clock....the system simply sounds very good, very musical and just 'right' in so many ways. Having had the G0s for several years, it was extremely good and imparted a huge amount of accuracy to the reproduction but it was not until I stepped down to a 'less accurate' clock that I got the realism and musicality I was looking for. I'm sure Eso has improved things in this regard as of late but for where I am, I am happy.

As far as using HDMI, I've tried it with P-03U/D-03 and now the P-02/D-02. Perhaps ES-LINK4 with the O1s has improved things but at least with the 03 and 02 generation, Dual-AES cables are still 'where it's at' so to speak for the best in musical playback....

High-End HDMI and USB (and Ethernet) cable offering prices are off the charts compared to what's actually going on inside those cables. The same can be said for RCA, Analog, Speaker and Power cords but frankly given what HDMI and USB cables actually route and do, the prices are proportionately that much more ludicrous from the SOTA manufacturers (just an opinion, don't shoot the messenger)....
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zephyr24069
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Sorry,...meant Firewire-based iLink, not HDMI. Apologies for the brain spasm.....
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zephyr24069
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Good Morning! We are busy trying to split time between work, a couple of vacation days and listening! Summer is tough,....give me a call sometime so we can catch up. Glad to hear you are enjoying that nirvana setup of yours :-) !!!!

For the clocking,....have you gone beyond the 10Mhz output yet?
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zephyr24069
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Looking forward to the call!!!
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zephyr24069
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Tom,

I thought I'd wake up this thread by letting you know that from what I've heard, Shunyata is about to release a pure 50-ohm SIGMA-level (i.e. their top of the line) "CLOCK50" cable with an absolutely certified 50-ohm connection that is their own in-house design.  I'm using two of their SIGMA AES/EBU cables for the last couple of months between my P-02 and D-02 with breathtaking results.  They replaced another high-end manufacturer's top-line cables that I could not find the better of for 5+ years and these new Shunyata's are by leaps and bounds better.   The differences are not subtle!
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I don’t believe you can use the X03SE as a transport for a pair of D1 monoblock DACs as the X03SE does not offer dual-AES outputs. You could connect to one of the D1s using S/PDIF coaxial but not the other. If you looked at an D02X Esoteric DAC, you could run 1 S/PDIF output from the X03SE into D02X.

Unless you would plan to eventually move up to the P-02X transport to drive the D-02X to its full potential using dual-AES or dual-HDMI cable connect methods which unlocks all the magic and features that the combination of P-02X and D-02X is capable of, you are probably MUCH better off moving solely to an Esoteric Grandioso K1. That single-box unit is winning hearts and minds (and ears) of MANY people for the past few months. I know of 6 very picky audio-nuts that are loving theirs and reporting fantastic results saying they’ve never heard its equal in all their time in audio. 2 at least are vinyl fans and are saying it comes so close that they have been spending more time with their K1 than with their vinyl since getting the K1.
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