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arnaud said:

If you want to sell googleli on something, you'd better add a couple of zeros to the price tag, else it won't even come under his radar .
 
Googleli: forget about about the external clock, just upgrade to a P02/D02 already... I heard it at the Tokyo audio show last week, it was pretty magical .
 

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sorry about that

There is someone in Hong Kong who already got the P02 / D02 combo and according to him, who previously owned the P01/D01/G0Rb combo, it is just not clear which of the P01/D01 and P02/D02 is better - he feels that the P01/D01 is more analytical whereas the D02 seems to have a clear upper hand with the 35 bit DAC. Also the P02/D02 seems to inherit the slightly warmer but still astonishingly detailed sound of the K-01.
 
For me, if I'd ever consider an upgrade to source I would probably try something different, like the Playback Designs MPS-5 or the EMM Labs XPS-1. Also, the Soluution 540 seems to have gained much recommendation lately in the Hong Kong hi-fi community. These are all moot - I will probably keep my K-01 for some time until I move to a big house where I can set up a decent speaker system before I even consider changing it.
 
The LCD-3 will be my last head-fi purchase for 2011 - and having bought the Esoteric K-01, LCD2, SR009 and LCD3, I'd say it's quite a satisfying year for me already. Next year I will try to be more modest - maybe just get a Liquid Fire and Zodiac Gold for my office setup, and a WES, Liquid Lightning or BHSE for my 009, and that's it - unless the SR010 or LCD4 comes out sooner that I thought...
 

If I remember right, the D02 is more of an evolution of K01 concept (i.e. using the AK chips) rather than continuation to D01. I believe it is the same number of DACs as the K01 but indeed 35 bit processing. Then the usual talk about getting better low level resolution by separating the drive unit from the D/A (I guess the transport and D/A are synched to the same clock else you'd loose all the benefits from going to separate boxes?). I have no experience with Esoteric high end gear prior to the K01 so I can't comment on that but surely what come for the system in the show was in no way clinical sounding. They boast about the weight (like 30+ kgs for the transport and another 20+ kgs for the D/A), this is almost a showstopper for me, there's got to be some more optimal design than that....

Tell me about it - I had some hard time moving the 30+ kg Esoteric K-01 onto my Hifi-rack without scratching anything. 
 
Back to the topic - during my audition of the P01/D01 at the distributor, I did notice a slight difference on the sound of the LCD-2 with the G-0Rb clock connected, but the difference became more significant when speakers were used - sound more focused and instrument positioning more precise. On the other hand I really did not notice a difference with the same word clock on or off, using the LCD2 or the speakers. I raise this doubt again because I am afraid that audition was not long enough-  really want to try to get a loaner somewhere to test out more. 

 
Quote:

arnaud said:

If I remember right, the D02 is more of an evolution of K01 concept (i.e. using the AK chips) rather than continuation to D01. I believe it is the same number of DACs as the K01 but indeed 35 bit processing. Then the usual talk about getting better low level resolution by separating the drive unit from the D/A (I guess the transport and D/A are synched to the same clock else you'd loose all the benefits from going to separate boxes?). I have no experience with Esoteric high end gear prior to the K01 so I can't comment on that but surely what come for the system in the show was in no way clinical sounding. They boast about the weight (like 30+ kgs for the transport and another 20+ kgs for the D/A), this is almost a showstopper for me, there's got to be some more optimal design than that....

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googleli said:

If external clock really matters, the only clocks I would consider are the Esoteric, G-0Rb,  the Antelope Trinity and Antelope 10M clocks...

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Do a search on Audiogon for pairing Esoteric separates to Antelope 10M/Trinity.  The results were not as expected.  For a K-01 or any other single-chassis unit I wouldn't bother at all.  For separates, an external master clock is a must, but you can start with something relatively cheap, like the G-0x and then upgrade to the G-0rb as money allows.
 
Esoteric is a very "integrated" solution if you catch my draft.

Just get the Isochrone 10M and Trinity and be done with it.
 
Dan Lavry would tell you that you're wasting your time and money unless you're going to be running multiple devices that need to be slaved to a master clock.
 
Quote:

arnaud said:

If you want to sell googleli on something, you'd better add a couple of zeros to the price tag, else it won't even come under his radar .

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Apparently there is a new word clock coming out - the Esoteric G02. Worth looking into.

If I remember correctly the new clock is lower end and supposed to be paired with something d07x.

Anyone tried Titan Labs Conrus or Horea which are said to defeat esoteric Master clocks