Wadia S7i vs Esoteric K-01/K-03 vs MSB


As I want to upgrade from Sony XA5400ES has someone compared the following:

-Wadia S7i
-Esoteric K-01 or K-03
-MSB with Platinum Dac IV plus, Signature Platinum Power Base, Upsampler 384 kHz and Platinum dac IV transport or any other MSB device.

I got already a great deal on a used Wadia S7i, which however is discontinued now.
I have no possibilities to compare any of these and apparently there is no specific information available on the net.

Thanks for making any efforts.

sequence56

Showing 2 responses by mallen123

Esoteric is the only one that plays SACD, unless u go with
MSB universal player based on the Oppo 95.

MSB has a great reputation and you rarely see them come up used, but they are a pricey multi box solution once u add up the power base for each piece, the DAC and the cost of the transport and cables.

Easy to get into the $40k range with MSB, which makes the Esoteric look reasonable at $20k list with discounted street pricing.

I went with the K01 for simplicity and the fact i could not justify the cost difference for either Esoteric or MSB top of the line digital separates.
One thing I did not mention on MSB that you might want to consider is their new Analogue DAC starting at $8K and going up with additional inputs and the upgraded power base.

I heard it at Newport show and it is very good sounding piece that is a good value if you use it to replace a pre amp.

It goes to 384 khz and I believe will also do DSD files.

With their Universal transport for SACD, you would be in the $15K range with a couple extra digital inputs. Add $3K if you want the upgraded power base.