Esoteric D-05 dac question

[samurai_dota]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a new DAC new and kind of love Esoteric product.

Right now there is one for sale on audiogon. However, I don't know whether Esoteric D-05 is really an amazing DAC for that much investment or not.

Can any owner of Esoteric D-05 tell me your opinion?

what is the price range for a used one?

thanks

[Icarium]

I think the only owner here is Elephas. I have pretty extensive experience with Esoteric though I haven't heard that particular one... I own the D-3 (Old dac), D70, UX-1 and have heard the DV50s/DV60/P-03D-03 combo.

While I like the house sound it tends to be on what people see as "clinical" and is a little bit over smooth. It does have a nice wide soundstage and is fairly clear and detailed.

It is not the best bang for the buck, but that really depends on what your requirements are... digital input/hirez/etc etc.

[samurai_dota]

thanks Icarium. Do you know any other DACs for me to consider(definitely not Larvy DA10 or Benchmark DAC1)?

[Icarium]

At that price range.. Berkely Audio Alpha DAC if you need hi rez (~5k)... I haven't heard it myself, but it has a strong pedigree. If you don't and don't mind vintage dacs then Spectral SDR-2000 Pro and Sonic Frontiers Processor 3 (These are probably stronger in redbook and about ~2.4-3k). Also.. some of the older Mark Levinson stuff is good too and also in that rough price range or a bit more.

Some of the Nelson Pass D1s seem decent as well...

All of these dacs to my experience sound better than anything from Esoteric or what I've heard from EMM Labs (Only the SE stack).

[Icarium]

Whoops reread this.. I misspoke.. out of those I've only heard the Spectral the rest are based on anecdotal evidence from various design folks that I trust to varying degrees and parts similarities.

[randerson3024]

I have the D-03/P-03/RG-b0. I compared the 5 to the 3 in Singapore only with thier commensurate transport and no clock, and found them to sound very good. I also was able to compare the setup to an X-03 and found the set up to be far superior. The system was all FM Acoustics, which is very different than my own. It sounded very musical, and just blew away my DV-60 (used for video).