Esoteric X-01 owners: thanks for your input; however, this model is too expensive for me. I'm looking for a unit that retails up to max $7,000, at a used price.
That said, I understand the X-01 & X-03 use the Teac VRDS transport. This is considered the most rugged, advanced transport in the world. I'd love to have it, but the price of admission is too high. Of course, just because a player uses this transport doesn't mean the unit will have the best sonics in the world, because there are so many other design factors involved.
That's what gets me. You spend so much money on this stuff, and then the designs are still not executed to the top level of sonics achieveable.
A couple of people have stated that they found the Wadia to have some issues with glare and with high frequency rolloff. I do know at least one reviewer stated that their Digimaster algorithm cuts off the highs quite abruptly, thinking this is what causes some possible issues in the highs.
I'm not limited to Esoteric and Wadia. However, many units that cost a considerable amount are made with very mediocre drives, which I think is ridiculous in these price ranges. At even the $4,000 level, I think there is no excuse, other than greed, not to use a very high quality, metal mechanism.
I wonder also about the Levinson 390S. I have heard of people having problems with the Levinson units, but I have also heard that they have cleaned up their act and actually improved the sonics of their products.
That said, I understand the X-01 & X-03 use the Teac VRDS transport. This is considered the most rugged, advanced transport in the world. I'd love to have it, but the price of admission is too high. Of course, just because a player uses this transport doesn't mean the unit will have the best sonics in the world, because there are so many other design factors involved.
That's what gets me. You spend so much money on this stuff, and then the designs are still not executed to the top level of sonics achieveable.
A couple of people have stated that they found the Wadia to have some issues with glare and with high frequency rolloff. I do know at least one reviewer stated that their Digimaster algorithm cuts off the highs quite abruptly, thinking this is what causes some possible issues in the highs.
I'm not limited to Esoteric and Wadia. However, many units that cost a considerable amount are made with very mediocre drives, which I think is ridiculous in these price ranges. At even the $4,000 level, I think there is no excuse, other than greed, not to use a very high quality, metal mechanism.
I wonder also about the Levinson 390S. I have heard of people having problems with the Levinson units, but I have also heard that they have cleaned up their act and actually improved the sonics of their products.