DAC nuances

My DAC is going on 9 years.  I auditioned a few newer that sounded slightly different but not better.  Perhaps in the five figure price range it might make a difference but I haven’t heard one in my system so while they can sound impressive in demonstrations I don’t know how that translates to my personal experience 

Your $13000 US (in 2011) SACD/DAC outperforms your current < $1000 Eversolo DAC? 

I don’t know why that is surprising.

Or are there others in the same price range you have compared? 

And I believe the Technics amplifier is a SU-G700M2? I believe I see the SL is their DAC; strange they have the exact same G700M2 after each... 

Not surprising to me Esoteric make some of the best Digital on the planet. They do make the best CD drives. 

Flagship DAC's of old tend to age well. IMHO, DAC designers of old focused on actually listening to their gear to ensure a non-fatiguing sound that was well-rounded and pleasant. If you have good all-around speakers, that is likely evident to you, and has grown on you. That sonic character is what they sold then.

spot on imho

Flagship DAC's of old tend to age well. IMHO, DAC designers of old focused on actually listening to their gear to ensure a non-fatiguing sound that was well-rounded and pleasant.

newer isn’t always better

Ditto. The ASR crowd constantly pushes the narrative that quality can be boiled down to a single SINAD number, but often this result is completely divorced from what actually sounds natural and enjoyable to us (meaning the typical audiophile here on this forum). Doesn't surprise me that your "old" K03 still impresses! Very nice player; I almost bought one. 

Every 20 years (or so) I get fooled into try the latest vaunted RME DAC product; 5 seconds into actual listening, I can't get out out of my system fast enough! First it was the Digi PAD sound card, and more recently their ADI-2 Pro DAC. Great SINAD number, though. Ugh, never again.