Looking for my "last" CD transport

jnovak: Esoteric has service in the USA, it is only sent to Japan if they cannot service it in the US, which is not often.  $3500??  I think you mis-typed it.  More like $350.

Hi fred60. Not a typo. Most Esoteric players need to go to Japan as that's where the "alignment jig" is kept. They did start a service whereas you can send your player to TAP Electronics in Ca. and they will remove the transport and send it alone to Japan. Still, this all in all will be costly. The thing that's crazy with this is; Esoteric is supposed to make a fantastic transport. Much has been touted about it's greatness. Looking at the past 20 years though, I'd say much cheaper transports have faired just as well and for a fraction of the price!

jnovak: I see that you had a problem with Esoteric after buying a used piece.  They have a 3-year warranty on all equipment.  And the cost of shipping can be avoided-- there are many cheaper options.  What about PS Audio?  They sold their Directstream Memory Players for $6,000 using a Oppo transport mechanism.  Oppo gets out of the business-- and PS Audio owners are out of luck.  Esoteric makes their own mechanism, which means that they can fix it.  Did your Esoteric repair cost you $3,500-- or as you posted on another thread-- $350?  Anyway-- you buy a Ferrari, you pay a lot for maintenance and repairs.  Buy a cheap player, and you can just trash it when it stops working.

Speaking of Esoteric take a look at this vintage one at TMR and review.  https://tmraudio.com/components/cd-sacd-players/esoteric-p-0-cd-transport-p0-remote-100v/

Don't waste time and money....All you need is an Oppo UPD-205, if you can find one!