esoteric x-01, ux-1 etc reliable?


I am considering buying a used Esoteric CD/SACD player, and I have heard a lot of praises heaped on top the VRDS-NEO transport. But what worries me is that I read somewhere that Teac Esoteric has discontinued the laser assembly used for the VRDS-NEO transport. Is there any owner or users willing to share their experience regarding the reliability as well as the lifespan rating of the laser head. Also, it gets even more complicated for modded units as the manufacturer warranty is likely void. I am hoping owners of the best modders like RAM, APL etc can shed some light on this.
opusone

Showing 3 responses by chungted

Fplanner2000 - Thanks for your information. But I think it's a very poor excuse for not improving the sound quality. Not only they are using cheaper transports on newer models, also in many people's opinion the sound of X-01 D1 is not to the level of older X-01 Limited.
I now have two (2) APL modified NWO-3.0GO-SE with transport problems.
One: the disc tray will not extend out for disc loading although the display shows "open". The player operated properly before.
Two: the disc tray will not extend when Open/Close button is pressed. The display shows nothing (is blank). Operation of the transport was erratic before. It stopped itself sometimes during playback.
Could Alex kindly help?
I am contacting Alex for transport problems.
In my opinion, the fist generation VRDS-NEO is so far the best transport ever produced. Combined with Alex's modification, the NWO-3.0GO-SE makes the sound so natural that one just feels every penny spent is worthwhile and more than satisfying.
Wondering why a company with vast resources and great engineers like Esoteric could not spend a little more effort to improve sound quality when a small company as APL HiFi has already shown a good example. Anyone who is willing to spend over $10,000 for a player must be critical about sound of music. Esoteric stands in a best position to meet this requirement. Thus, people do not have to spend time and effort to go for modification and risk for losing the warranty.