Esoteric K-05 or K-07?

Excellent comments Geoff... I discovered something fascinating with my old X-01 during the weekend... The unit had been sitting for a while on Aluminum-ceramic Nordost Sort Kones: yes, the yield a mild enhancement in resolution/imaging over the X-01's integrated footers.

My X-01 feeds a Rowland Criterion, which feeds Rowland M925 monos, feeding Vienna Die Muzik. Wiring is all Aural Symphonics. Titanium-ceramic Kones under amps and preamp.

I have a spare trio of Nordost Bronze-ceramic Kones, for which I have some historical misgivings because of mixed results on a few SS stereo amps, under which I much prefer the extension and sweetness yielded by the Titanium-ceramic variant.

Anyhow, on a lark, I replaced the Aluminum-ceramic Kones under X-01 with the Bronze-ceramic variants: two in front, just behind the integrated footers, and one in the back, just front of the footer.... There was a nice enhancement in imaging, but treble extension seemed to suffer a little bit.... On a further lark, I added just one Titanium Kone 1.5 inches from the front plate, half way between the left and right.... Bingo! The treble reopened up, without any treble excess... harmonic content, and imaging/staging were further enhanced, with the bass range assuming further gravitas... Yes, the word lushius does come to mind.

On one last experimental lark, I switched Kones.... Bronze under Rowland Criterion linestage, and all Titanium (4) under X-01... Ahg, forget lush... Shrill city without depth... Bronze Kones went immediately back under X-01, Titanium under Criterions.... And all's lushly find with the world once again!

Of course, the new K-0X series is not the same as X-01, but I venture to conjecture: a trio of Nordost Bronze Sort Kones spiced up with a single Titanium Kone under the new players may yield some fascinating results.

Saluti, G.

Yashu, read Ryan Colemans review of the P-02/D-02 in Ultra Audio( Soundstage). It's not the K-05 , however it is a great dicription of the strenghts of the latest Esoteric series players. The whole line shares the basic design philosophy and you can hear the heart of the sound in all the K's. I owned an X-01/D2 and was very happy with it. Great player to separate the sounds in the music and terrific detail and dynamics. Last year I purchased the K-01 and was blown away by the change in sound from theX-01. All the strengths are still there but the difference is in the way the presentation feels. There's a smoother presentation, much more natural. All the K's have this feel. The big difference in one model to another is clarity of each separate sound in the presentation. Go for K-05, and if you can get to the K-03, you may never upgrade again, I think there that good!

Hi Guido,

Very interesting comments on the use of various Sort Kones under the X-01.

I have something of a love/hate relationship with my Esoteric K-03 and have also been playing around recently with the use of various Sort Kones in my system

One thing is immediately clear. After trying various footers including Ansuz Diamond, Cold Rays (Ti), Pulsar points (Ti)and Sort BC (Bronze) & TC - all are far better than resting the K-series on its own footers - which is pretty interesting considering the work Esoteric is said to have put into the footer design!

Under the K-03 and indeed under most components, I've generally found TC to produce higher fidelity than BC. BC does sound a bit more 'earthy' with a little more mid-bass heft but it is at the cost of treble air and overall resolution most noticeable with a discernable loss of subtle reverberant and ambient detail.

Audiolabyrinth,

I was in a similar situation that you were in a little over
a year ago. I had the K-03 and the Rega Isis in my system at the same time and the Rega simply was more enjoyable to my ear. I really wanted to buy the K-03 but in my system the Rega did everything wonderful and had that analog smoothness to it. I do have a great analog setup amd for the first time my digital is just as entertaining as my vinyl. The pricing of the Rega Isis & K-3 are quite similar. There is a review in Tone Magazine and a few others about the Rega. You owe it to yourself to at least hear the Rega. Have fun!

Hi Kiwi_1282001... You are right on about pure BC, including BC on X-01. Yes, earthy with a little more bass than what I would been happy, and a little less treble than what I would prefer, is exactly how I would define it... Overall, not a setup that I could live with.

The magic appeared only once I "doped" the BC trio with one single TC in the middle front of the X-01 unit.

Guido