4 CDP's

Audiolab 9000N
Many months have passed, far more than I had anticipated, but the eagle has not landed! But there is hope, that the eagle (read esoteric) will be landing soon. Looking forward to playing my new collection of 300-400 CD's acquired from Amazon and Rhythm House in recent months. Especially the hybrid SACD's.

Esoteric had actually built and released the SA10 as a a pair with the AI 10, which is a Class D amp. There is a provision for syncing the master clock of the SA10 with the AI 10 master clock. I have no idea how a Class D compares with an AB amp, but would love to hear the combo together. They look great together. Will they sound great?

6moons audio reviews: Esoteric SA-10 & AI-10
 
I could not audition the Esoteric SA 10, but I opened and read every link I could find on the internet. I discussed Esoteric/ Accuphase/ Meridian/ Ayre cdp's with foreign dealers. Prem's knowledge and comments about Esoteric were very, very helpful. His posts, pm's and mails have given me a fairly good idea about what to expect, and what not to expect, from an Esoteric. His views were corroborated by the dealers I spoke to, and the reviews I read.

Esoteric cdp's may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I feel they are the one's for me. Fast, detailed, articulate, honest, cold, unemotional, merciless, no frills, no cosmetics. I will be happy if Esoteric SA10 is all these things. I am not looking for a warm sound or a creamy sound. I am not looking for an 'analogue' sound or a 'vintage' sound. I would prefer the most neutral, transparent, detailed and dynamic sound that modern digital technology can offer. With a double scoop of sweetness to make it perfect :)
 
AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT I RETURNED HOME WITH THE ESOTERIC SA10 :)

At 12.03 I powered it on, poured a double shot of Laphroaig, pushed in an SACD of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. With the first purring note of incredible refinement, sweetness and power, I was (VOSP) transported into audio nirvana. Absolutely mindblowing sound with SACD. Will redbook CD's spin the same magic? Probably yes!

Can an Esoteric cdp be cold and lacking in emotion, as some people seem to believe? No. They are mistaken.

Is it startlingly smooth, sweet, detailed, transparent and honest? Yes.

Will I ever yearn for computer audio and a DAC? No. I don't think so.

Will I ever yearn for a vinyl set up? Never. I am absolutely certain!

Is this the last source I will ever buy? Possibly. But If I can afford it, I would only consider going higher up the Esoteric chain.

So what's next? Buy more SACD's. Pour a double shot of Ardbeg. And keep listening to magical music.
 
Naya car (new car)!
Naya SACD collection (new SACD collection)
Naya CDP (new CD player)!
:cool:

Congrats Ajay!! Having heard an Esoteric(though not a SACD) at Prem's place, I know exactly how you feel:). It only gets better with burn-in. Enjoy!:cheers:
 
Congratulations Ajay!

I hope your search for a balanced system has reached a conclusion, at least for the moment. Enjoy and and share your experience.

Regards.
 
Thanks Santosh.

At the moment my SACD collection amounts to a dozen cds or so. There are limitations to buying hybrid SACD's. Only the currently active, superstar conductors like Valery Gergiev and Michael Tilson Thomas are getting their music released on SACD. I have not come across too many old recordings being remastered as SACD's.

On the Arcam CD192 which is a red book cd player, the hybrid SACD's sounded like well recorded red book CD's. It is only with an SACD player that the extra layers of digital information become audible.

I really believe that digital music has made huge strides in recent times, and that SACD's and high resolution computer audio will outshine analogue sources in the future. I am all for the simplicity, transparency, speed and detail of digital sound. The 'cd sound is boring' phenomenon is more due to badly remastered historical cd's and mediocre CD players. I may be 'solidly' in the solid state/digital music camp, but I would love to hear good tube and vinyl systems.

Mother Earth owns a huge amount of real estate and there is room for a multitude of opinions and preferences :)
 
Asit said:
Congratulations Ajay!

I hope your search for a balanced system has reached a conclusion, at least for the moment. Enjoy and and share your experience.

Regards.
Click to expand...

Thanks Asit. Is there any Indian classical music being released on SACD?. If there is, then I would appreciate some recommendations.
 
ajay124 said:
Thanks Asit. Is there any Indian classical music being released on SACD?. If there is, then I would appreciate some recommendations.
Click to expand...

As far as I know there are very few SACDs in Indian Classical music, and they are the hardest to find.

Look for this one: SA-CD.net - Ali Akbar Khan: Indian Architexture (Sarod by Ali Akbar Khan)

and this one: SA-CD.net - Ry Cooder: A Meeting by the River (not pure classical, Ry Cooder and VM Bhatt)

Both are from Water Lily Acoustics. Recordings are superb. The second one I have in CD, very very good quality. If you can get hold of the first one, please let me know. I do not have a SACD player, but would love to get the CD version. The first one is one of the hardest to get.

Regards.
 
DSOTM (and Roger Water's The Wall) sounds mind-blowing (to me!) on my lowly Pioneer player, I'm sure it would be even better on the Eso!
 
grubyhalo

If you haven't heard them then you should check out the following iconic original albums which would be on par with DSOM and The Wall.

ABRAXUS SANTANA
CARAVANSERAI SANTANA
MOONFLOWER SANTANA
IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING KING CRIMSON
IN SEARCH OF A LOST CHORD MOODY BLUES
DEJA VU CSNY
RUST NEVER SLEEPS NEIL YOUNG
HARVEST NEIL YOUNG
TONIGHTS THE NIGHT NEIL YOUNG
AQUALUNG JETHRO TULL
CREST OF A KNAVE JETHRO TULL
MACHINE HEAD DEEP PURPLE
LOW SPARKS OF THE HIGH HEELED BOYS TRAFFIC
WHERE THE EAGLE FLIES TRAFFIC
ARC OF A DIVER STEVE WINWOOD
BLOOD ON THE TRACKS BOB DYLAN
DESIRE BOB DYLAN
IMAGINE JOHN LENNON
COMMUNIQUE DIRE STRAITS
DIRE STRAITS DIRE STRAITS
THE LONG RUN EAGLES
HOTEL CALIFORNIA EAGLES
RUMOURS FLEETWOOD MAC
BLIND FAITH BLIND FAITH
DISRAELI GEARS CREAM
AMERICAN BEAUTY GRATEFUL DEAD
AJA STEELY DAN
TWO AGAINST NATURE STEELY DAN
BEGGARS BANQUET ROLLING STONES
AFTERMATH ROLLING STONES
SGT. PEPPER BEATLES
REVOLVER BEATLES
ABBEY ROAD BEATLES
MY GENERATION WHO
TOMMY WHO
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST DAVID BOWIE
SHEER HEART ATTACK QUEEN
VARIOUS POSITIONS LEONARD COHEN
THE FUTURE LEONARD COHEN
I'M YOUR MAN. LEONARD COHEN
BROKEN ENGLISH MARIANNE FAITHFULL
DANGEROUS AQUAINTANCES MARIANNE FAITHFULL
CHEAP THRILLS JANIS JOPLIN
WAITING FOR THE SUN DOORS
AN AMERICAN PRAYER DOORS
LA WOMAN DOORS


My fingers are hurting from the rapid typing :)
 
Ajay,
I have the following but mostly on CD, not sure if I can find the SACD versions locally but will look around:

ABRAXUS SANTANA
DEJA VU CSNY
RUST NEVER SLEEPS NEIL YOUNG
HARVEST NEIL YOUNG
TONIGHTS THE NIGHT NEIL YOUNG
AQUALUNG JETHRO TULL
MACHINE HEAD DEEP PURPLE
WHERE THE EAGLE FLIES TRAFFIC
ARC OF A DIVER STEVE WINWOOD
BLOOD ON THE TRACKS BOB DYLAN
DESIRE BOB DYLAN
IMAGINE JOHN LENNON
DIRE STRAITS DIRE STRAITS
THE LONG RUN EAGLES
HOTEL CALIFORNIA EAGLES
RUMOURS FLEETWOOD MAC (DVD-A)
BLIND FAITH BLIND FAITH
DISRAELI GEARS CREAM
AMERICAN BEAUTY GRATEFUL DEAD (DVD-A)
AJA STEELY DAN
TWO AGAINST NATURE STEELY DAN
BEGGARS BANQUET ROLLING STONES (SACD)
AFTERMATH ROLLING STONES
SGT. PEPPER BEATLES
REVOLVER BEATLES
ABBEY ROAD BEATLES
MY GENERATION WHO
TOMMY WHO
LA WOMAN DOORS
 
Hi Ajay,
So the eagle has landed. Congrats! Enjoy the music. Hope you are busy discovering many new nuances in familiar recordings.
Joshua
 
Congrats, Ajay! So the long wait finally drew to an end huh?

Glad to know it was exactly what you wanted. Enjoy! :)
 
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