Esoteric K-01 Ordered.

**Tremayne** · April 25, 2013, 12:17 PM

Yesterday I visited my dealer and was able to listen to the Burmester 089 and the Esoteric K-01 and K-03.
I loved the K-01, and after listening to it as I want to install it, driving the Burmester 911mk3 directly, I ordered one

.
I don't have a delivery date yet.

**Rayooo** · April 25, 2013, 12:22 PM

Congratulations! an absolutely stunning sounding .. and looking piece of gear! my lowly D-07X at least looks a little like it's big brothers!

**joeinid** · April 25, 2013, 12:43 PM

Congratulations Colin. I am really happy and excited for you. I can not wait for your opinion on that amazing piece in your own home.

**Tremayne** · April 25, 2013, 01:05 PM

Thanks Rayooo & Joe,
I'll let you know how it goes.

**Mike** · April 25, 2013, 01:10 PM

Big congrats!!!!

**bart** · April 25, 2013, 04:00 PM

Colin, quite a system you're building! Good luck.

**still-one** · April 25, 2013, 04:41 PM

Congratulations. Built like a tank and suburb styling. You will be happy.

**jwhite613** · April 25, 2013, 05:12 PM

Colin... Congratulations!!!

**Tremayne** · April 25, 2013, 05:27 PM

Thanks everyone, and just in time. My dealer told me that Esoteric are increasing their UK prices from the 1st of May, the cost of the K-01 will go up by 33%.

**dlb2** · April 25, 2013, 05:31 PM

You ordered that just in time! Big congrats!

**sharkmouth** · April 25, 2013, 07:12 PM

Congrats Colin, the K-01 would be my choice if I went Esoteric, like Jim says they are a good looking bit of gear.

**socfan12** · April 25, 2013, 08:21 PM

Congrats, Colin! I have the K03 and love it. Can only imagine the K01 with a Burmy!

**Audioseduction** · April 25, 2013, 09:41 PM

What a killer CDP! That was on my short list before I decided to go the music server rout. Congrats and Enjoy!!!

**iamhifi** · April 25, 2013, 10:29 PM

Wow awesome Enjoy
Angel

**Tremayne** · April 26, 2013, 01:18 AM

Thanks everyone, I'm really looking forward to getting it into the system.

Originally Posted by Audioseduction

What a killer CDP! That was on my short list before I decided to go the music server rout. Congrats and Enjoy!!!

George, I sold my CDP and went down the music server route (no names), that was my very big mistake. Once the K-01 is installed I may try again, but in a much simpler and very much cheaper way.

**Rtan** · April 26, 2013, 03:20 AM

Congrats! Big sound coming to your room.

**Tremayne** · April 26, 2013, 03:41 AM

Thanks Ron.

**Jeffkad** · April 26, 2013, 12:18 PM

Colin, BIG congrats!!! Waiting on my K-03, but won't get it till end of next week. Not sure I want to ask this, lol, but how did the K-03 hold up against the K-01?

**Tremayne** · April 26, 2013, 05:36 PM

Thanks Jeffkad, I still don't have a delivery date for mine.
The K-03 stood up very well against the K-01, I'm sure that you will enjoy it immensely.

**PERCON** · July 7, 2013, 12:44 PM

The k-01 is a great choice it's a great player and you can use it for computer audio. I always recommend them to my customers who are looking to still spin CDs but also want to do computer audio.

**Petro85** · July 7, 2013, 04:05 PM

Nice !!!! Congrats!!!

**Audioseduction** · November 13, 2013, 08:24 PM

Any updates?

**Tremayne** · November 14, 2013, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by Audioseduction

Any updates?

Yes George, there are:
The K-01 duly arrived and was connected to my Burmester 911mk3. I loved it, apart from one thing, every time that there was switching within the K-01 this emanated as pops through the speakers. Changing inputs, any menu changes, when an SACD was detected all resulted in pops through the speakers, usually more than one. There were other, seemingly random, pops, and occasionally as a CD ended.
Both Esoteric Japan and my dealer said that it wasn't a faulty K-01, but an incompatibility somewhere in the system. I did have the offer of returning the K-01 for a full refund, but as I really liked it, and the retail price had increased by 33% just after I bought it, I was reluctant to do that. I tried everything I could think of to get rid of the pops but unsuccessfully. I was at the point of returning it when two things happened.
An Esoteric A-02 was advertised at a dealers, these are second only to hen's teeth in rarity value in the UK, it's been impossible to buy them new for a very long time.
Then I had a phone call from the UK Esoteric service engineer, he was trying to borrow a K-01 and A-02 from Germany, and bring them to my house in order to isolate the problem. His opinion was that almost certainly it was an interface problem between the K-01 and 911 mk3.
The A-02 was priced very reasonably, so I took a big gamble and bought it, and it cured the problem.
Initially it didn't sound so good, but plugging it into the wall socket instead of the 948 conditioner changed it completely for the better.
I'm now a very happy Esoteric K-01 / A-02 owner.

**MDP** · November 14, 2013, 12:41 PM

Congrats Colin, I'm glad you got your problem fixed !

**Tremayne** · November 14, 2013, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by MDP

Congrats Colin, I'm glad you got your problem fixed !

Thanks Mark.

**joeinid** · November 14, 2013, 12:53 PM

Colin,

I am so glad everything is working well. It has been a long road, now enjoy.

**Tremayne** · November 14, 2013, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by joeinid

Colin,

I am so glad everything is working well. It has been a long road, now enjoy.

Thanks Joe.

**PMCH** · November 14, 2013, 11:42 PM

Colin, great to hear that your problem was corrected to your satisfaction. I have never heard any pops from my K03 going into my McIntosh gear. I am very happy with my K03. I have never listened to a K01 and don't want to since then I may want one.

**Tremayne** · November 15, 2013, 04:23 AM

Originally Posted by PMCH

Colin, great to hear that your problem was corrected to your satisfaction. I have never heard any pops from my K03 going into my McIntosh gear. I am very happy with my K03. I have never listened to a K01 and don't want to since then I may want one.

Thanks Paul,
When you operate your K-03, presuming that it's the same as the K-01, you can hear very quiet clicks from the unit. These clicks were being transmitted through to the speakers when the K-01 was connected to the 911mk3.

**sharkmouth** · November 15, 2013, 06:34 AM

No, I have had a K-03 in my system in very early days, they don't "click" "buzz" or make "coffee" send it back!!!

**iamhifi** · November 15, 2013, 09:19 AM

Congrats!!! The pops could it be a impedance problem, why not try MIT cables that allow you to adjust.

**PMCH** · November 15, 2013, 01:23 PM

Hi Colin, perhaps because I have my K-03 going into my C2300 preamp and not directly into the amps, I don't hear any noise.

**Tremayne** · November 16, 2013, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by iamhifi

Congrats!!! The pops could it be a impedance problem, why not try MIT cables that allow you to adjust.

Angel, I don't believe that it was an impedance problem, the output impedance of the K-01 lies within the range of the output impedances of Burmester pre-amps.

This was part of Esoteric Japan's response;

“Depending on input circuit and so on of connected amplifier, there are some cases that noise occurs by mute on/off.”
This mute is part of the switching circuit and not the volume mute.

Now that I have the A-02 I no longer have a problem with pops.

Originally Posted by PMCH

Hi Colin, perhaps because I have my K-03 going into my C2300 preamp and not directly into the amps, I don't hear any noise.

Paul, the noise that I hear is a very quiet click, and comes from the K-01, not through the speakers (using the A-02). If I hadn't had a problem (using the 911mk3) then I may not have even noticed it.
When changing inputs the click only occurs if there is something connected to that input, and it is switched on. I do get a click with every menu change though.

**KahunaCanuck** · November 16, 2013, 03:06 PM

My K03 clicks as well when it switches formats etc. Like going from 44/16 to 96/24, it is a very quiet click, and doesn't go through my system, only from the K03 itself. I use a Mc C500t for my Pre...I don't find it annoying.

**NorthStar** · November 16, 2013, 04:23 PM

Clicks are healthy; means that the unit is doing its job. ...Relay switches.

**FRO** · December 14, 2013, 09:54 AM

I have sold 3 of the K-01 units this year - never have been able to listen to one.
Will be getting in another this month and may just keep it as a demo or transport only.
Currently have a D-02 I am using direct to my Pass Labs XA160.5 amps.
I believe the D-02 has about the same setting options discussed here.
My next step is to take advantage of the USB input for music digital files via JRiver Media Center 19.
Anyone here do this with your K-01?

**Tremayne** · December 15, 2013, 05:52 AM

I'm currently enjoying my K-01 with no digital filter, no up-conversion and with the XLR output gain set to 0dB.
My previous foray into computer audio was a disaster (pre K-01). I'm in no hurry to try it again in the near future, maybe one day?

**Ritmo** · December 15, 2013, 09:18 AM

Glad you are enjoying your K-01 Colin. It is a very nice player.

**JazzRock** · December 17, 2013, 12:09 PM

Congrats, Colin. No doubt you'l love it. I added a K-03 to my system this past Spring and really enjoy it. I did want to go all the way to the K-01 but I apparently was afflicted with a rare case of compromise! But I'm not disappointed at all. I look forward to your experiences....especially with which filters you like best & why.

....oh....just realized you are going straight with no filters....as I am. I was curious of your opinion of them had you chosen to engage any of the filters....

**Tremayne** · December 18, 2013, 04:09 AM

Jazz Rock,
It was also last spring when I received my K-01.
For several months I changed the filter and up-conversion settings weekly, using it normally, but playing the run in disc when I wasn't listening to it.
By "normally" I mean radio and TV from the satellite HD box into the co-ax input as well as CDs/SACDs.
I have the DVD player connected to the optical input, and I used this to play the run in disc on repeat, I didn't want to wear out the K-01 whilst running it in.
This meant remembering to change the settings on all three inputs (I haven't used the USB input) at the same time.
I feel that the no filter, no up-conversion setting, to give the most natural sound, although, because of the way that I ran in the K-01, I can't be sure of the actual run in hours I have on each filter. No doubt I'll revisit the various filter / up-conversion options in the future.
I prefer the 0dB setting to the +6dB setting and found that connecting the signal ground to be very worthwhile.

**JazzRock** · December 18, 2013, 09:22 AM

Thx for the info, Colin. Very interesting. I only use the DAC for CD/SACD playback. I use my Viola Crescendo Pre-DAC for all other 2-ch music. But for SACD/CD I haven't really experimented with the filters or up-sampling yet. My approach is always try to get the signal to the speakers as unadulterated as possible. That's not to say there isn't any benefit to engaging the filters or up-sampling. And i too plan to experiment with them but I've been busy building other segments of my home network using JRiver for audio & video distribution. Having fun....often frustrated but man when I sit back to listen.....I really enjoy!!!

**FRO** · December 18, 2013, 09:35 AM

Can I ask what you are connecting the signal ground to?

I have the D-02 that has similar setting options as the K-01.
I have mine set as -

UPCONV: "4Fs"
DF: "S_DLY 2"

**Tremayne** · December 18, 2013, 05:09 PM

Fro,
The signal ground of the K-01 is connected to the signal ground of the A-02.
If your amp doesn't have a signal ground connection you could try connecting your D-02s signal ground to your amps chassis.

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