Opus 21 vs Esoteric X-3se

Mike,
The stock Opus 21 is excellent. I have not heard any better for anything near the price.

Detail is always harder to get. Once you've lost it, there's no way to get it back further down the chain. I'd rather get the detail in, then tune the rest of the system, then lose it forever.

Cmk,

I understand your point. My x-3se had to be sent in for service and the dealer let me take home my Sa-10 that I had traded for the x-3. Now the was a reason I traded it in in the first place, but man that is a big step back. Still the sa-10 is more forgiving and therefore easier to live with if something is not right. The lose of detail is stunning and something I could not live with. The dealer being the cool guy that he is, let me bring back the sa-10 and take home a dv-60, that's a nice improvement. The upsampling of the dv-60 is a nice feature as it smooths out the sound for me. That machine may ultimately be a good compromise if I want to stay with the Esoteric brand.
Thanks
Mike