Saturday, July 18, 2026
Home Esoteric K-03XD SE SACD player – wow!

Esoteric K-03XD SE SACD player – wow!

5

Pros

  • Sounds fantastic.
  • Can also be used as a DAC.
  • Beautifully crafted.

Cons

  • Saving this amount takes time

Price: € 19800

Build quality
Usability
Sound
Price
Alpha-Audio Approved

The test setup

Contents

Reference system

Type test
Single Test
Inputs
  • Digital Coaxial
  • Digital Optical
  • Digital USB
Outputs
  • Analog RCA
  • Analog XLR
  • Digital Coaxial
  • Digital AES
Product type
CD-player
Max samplingrate
384 kHz
Max bit depth
32 bit
Weight
28 Kg
Dimensions
  • Width: 44,5 cm
  • Depth: 44 cm
  • Height: 16,2 cm
Production country
Japan

Winkels met Esoteric

Schoenmakersstraat 19
6041EX Roermond, NL
St. Ceciliastraat 28
5038 HA Tilburg, NL
Geldropseweg 105
5611 SE Eindhoven, NL
Breestraat 146-148
2311CX Leiden, Zuid Holland, NL
Beethovenstraat 9-b
1077 HL Amsterdam, Noord Holland, NL
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5 Comments
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Oldest Most Voted
Cyril Dali
5 months ago

Sometimes I wonder if CD wasn’t just the superior medium.. I find the calmness that you kept mentioning in this review is hard to find with streaming. Now I don’t have a streaming setup of 20k€ but still. It is not the first time I read or hear this kind of feedback from CD listening.

Martijn (redacteur)
Reply to  Cyril Dali
5 months ago

This is a 20.000 Euro CD player 😉

You can get to a streaming solution which sounds great, but not with streaming services. I still don’t understand what is happening, but even on gear that is known to have been well-engineered, local files still beat the streaming service.

Local files playback can be as good as CD though, you don’t need 20.000 Euro for that. In comparison, a good CD transport is still cheaper to get to the same result.

Cyril Dali
Reply to  Martijn (redacteur)
5 months ago

Thank you Martijn that is interesting. I guess all the network involved in streaming is the problem. A problem that disappears with CD or local files (when on internal disk or usb stick). Indeed that is what I felt when you did the livestream with the CD transports. There seems to be exceptional sound for not too much money.

Gene
7 months ago

You wrote: “… No: this just plays exactly what’s on the record.”

Without wanting to take anything away from the Esoteric and your enjoyment of it, when I read statements like this, I just shake my head. Of course, in the pedestrian sense, it’s literally true. But in a more meaningful sense, I want to ask the writer, How could you know what’s on the record? Unless, of course, you were there for every step from recording to mixing to manufacture.

Tobias
Reply to  Gene
7 months ago

Why would you know what is on the record just because you where there “from the recording to mixing to manufacture”?
I think the best audiophile digital playback setups can dig out even more, that was captured by the mic, than what the studio people where able to notice with their equipment (or rather in their relatively noisy digital environment).

Last edited 7 months ago by Tobias
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