G'day BG,
Yes, I'm using the Esoteric K-07XS digital player. It's an outstanding unit! Well capable of some serious level of detail and fine resolution once it has run-in properly, which takes an awful long time. The earlier versions were the k07, then k07x & now k07xs, which is the latest third generation in Esoteric digital tech. It has all the goodies of their top of the line but only one high tech designed tranny. Whereas the top of the line K01XD or the K01 has four trannys. That's serious levels of pure current and highly stable power supplies.
I had access to the higher grade models, such as the K05XS and K03XS, however the main importer for Esoteric advice that the extra spend won't give me a 40% performance improvement, which is my personal benchmark. Rather in-between 15-20% thereabouts. The most significant upgrade is from the K07XS to the K01 Grandisio XD. So, in order for me to get any better and surpass this performance I should consider their clock unit which is the G0X2 or something. Over here it goes for 26grand! Just for their clock, and so I auditioned it, and oh my what a superb combination it was!
Anyway, he advised that once this thing settles in nicely and gets going there's no turning back, other than the clock. The Dac chip sets and processors are nearly similar all the way up, it's this clock that makes the biggest difference.
The K07XS also has several digital filters plus a superb transport mechanism and pick-up unit, which contributes to the difference between previous versions. The DAC is also top notch and when used with digital files, either through it's USB port or other digital inputs, any of these files can be converted to DSD quality with very high resolution. Although I'm not using the unit this way, since I'm using CDs and SACD's, there was one mad digital chap who came over to my place and demoed it with his digital formats, it was mighty fine! I guess that's something to consider in the future... if LP's and CDs were to vanish.
Anyway, at the moment I'm overwhelmed by the performance of the K07XS, and each time it plays tunes, it gets better and better, simply superb!
Speaking of transport mechanism, I did try out the top line Luxman D10x, which I liked. It's transport mechanism was much quieter than the Esoteric and one of those pretty amazing digital playback systems that is quite captivating. However, there were certain areas that the Esoteric gear offered more of in my particular set-up, such as extended airy highs, deeper bass and a wonderful midrange, that is pure synergy with CJ's midrange, as you already know. So with that, I didn't want to upset or change that particular type of sound, so I just prefer the Esoteric. The Luxman would have been superb in a second system, carefully matched with other gear that comprises of SET amplifiers driving Avant Garde's Duo XD's, that would have been outstanding!
BTW, which Esoteric have you got?
Enjoy those fine tunes!
Cheers, RJ