esoteric products


Hi Goners!

With the recent purchase of controlling shares of TEAC, Gibson Int. has been on quite a tear solidifying both the instrument, pro and home audio areas of they're growth!

With a consolidation of Onkyo, among others, they have been quoted as saying that Esoteric accounted for only 1.9% of the audio division of TEAC!!

As to the future of Esoteric they again stated that the brand "will have to mature and evolve on it's own"...

With the core group of USA market and matinence people accepting other jobs outside of the TEAC group then, even if Teac still pledges to support the upgrading and repair of the units how long can it be before Esoteric does a nose dive?!!

Is this the reason EVERYONE is dumping they're Esoteric gear? Looks like a dead end for the GRANDIOSE line...

Your thoughts,

Azjake
128x128azjake
I found someone (Northwest Audio) who without seeing it, is guessing it would be an easy fix ($100-$300) & is going to diagnose at no charge. I will be very happy if that’s the case.

Re streaming; I am going file on most new music & loading on Flash Drives (+ backup; btw I’m looking for a couple old external hd’s that will work with XP; the chipset that allowed XP to see over 2 TB has been removed from all current manufacture as far as I can tell).

With that said, the Esoteric/PS Audio sounds better on 44/16 then the Oppo; but I guess I could pop the Flash Drive in the Oppo for 44/16 & run an SPDIF to the PS Audio for 44/16. I hadn’t thought of that until you’re mention of streaming.

It would make an interesting comparison; as back in 1992 I clearly preferred the sound of the P-10 over the 5 times as expensive P-2. The P-10 was much fuller sounding then the P-2 (I believe the d/a used for that comparison was a Meridian.)

My main focus today is hi-res digital; but I still have thousands of cd’s (& a couple thousand albums as 44/16 files).

Robert Harley recommended the SL3 to me at an in store in 1999 or so. Only high end purchase I’ve ever made mail order without hearing the unit, & a choice I’ve been quite content with.

I did buy a McCormack DNA-1 here; but I already had heard & fallen in love with that amp before I bought it.

Oppo, and I would not be surprised if they enter other products in their line. Today's top of the line Oppo decks beat anything in the esoteric line....Dumbest thing Ive read on this site in a long time..but as they say you cant argue with stupid!.
Today’s top of the line Oppo decks beat anything in the esoteric line....Dumbest thing Ive read on this site in a long time..but as they say you cant argue with stupid!.
Stupid is as stupid does........ :)
I have the Oppo 105d and cannot live with the audio streaming of it, which was one of the main purchase points when I bought it on recommendation, and before I heard it in comparison with other kit. As a result I use it to stream films from my nas only. I also bought it to play blue ray, but have not found many decent films! Sonically it is harsh and a bit "weak" compared with proper kit. I play dvd and cd audio with my Meridian 800 which I have had for some time and which must be now the best second hand value purchase in the world ever.
For audio network streaming I use the Bryston bdp2 which is in an entirely different (better) league altogether. The good things about the Oppo are its versatility and ease of use, at not a big price. You can do quite a lot with it for around £1k. At that price I would hardly expect it to do anything particularly well. Oppo owners do seem to be very ready to praise them though.
I have owned the Oppo 95 and 105. Both nice units in their price range. But neither come close to my Esoteric KO 3x.
enjoy Pete