Esoteric t1

[plasmod3]

a review from fremer

Esoteric Grandioso T1 Turntable - The Absolute Sound

Esoteric Grandioso T1 Turntable - The Japanese company pulled out all the stops in creating this entirely new turntable for the 21st century. Michael Fremer offers an in-depth look.

www.theabsolutesound.com

not a bad review but i can add in - the turntable with the primary control fcl and the at mc2022 is very very good provided you have the right sut. i have the sat cf12 as well - need a new headshell to mount the at mc2022 on it - that is going to be quite phenomenal a combination i believe

 

[bonzo75]

Interesting, now he writes “The OMA’s bottom end may deliver a bit more low-end punch, but its midbass is somewhat leaner and less generous and its sustain and, by comparison, its decay a bit miserly.”

 

[plasmod3]

Interesting, now he writes “The OMA’s bottom end may deliver a bit more low-end punch, but its midbass is somewhat leaner and less generous and its sustain and, by comparison, its decay a bit miserly.”

Now ain't that a triumph? In a small way I guess. I was always of the mind the oma is unbeatable. The greatest drawback of that turntable is the inability to change the arm on it I feel.

 

[bonzo75]

Now ain't that a triumph? In a small way I guess. I was always of the mind the oma is unbeatable. The greatest drawback of that turntable is the inability to change the arm on it I feel.

Thing is with Fremer, like with many, you have to need follow up articles to get to the negatives of the components he is reviewing. If you take the review in isolation, it will rarely tell you a sonic negative unless he really does not like it. So this is his negative on the OMA. I doubt it is w.r.t the Esoteric only.

 

[mtemur]

I heard Esoteric T1 at Tokyo Audio Show in Phasemation room. I don’t know how much the turntable contributed to the final sound but it was lean, unimpressive and pale. I highly suspect it’s because of those Sonus Faber speakers and believe Esoteric is a fine turntable considering it’s design approach. But you can never know.

here is a very short video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OaJJdziGHjjLD3Nf9kWIgwwP8jcIcWOa/view?usp=drivesdk

 

[PeterA]

I’d like to hear this turntable in a familiar system and particularly the effect of the drive wheel as it moves closer and further away from the platter.

 

[bonzo75]

Robin Wyatt has put up a Facebook post that “ The new Wilson Benesch at Michael Fremer’s distanced itsself from his current reference Krebs K3 by a margin- for me! “

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I heard Esoteric T1 at Tokyo Audio Show in Phasemation room. I don’t know how much the turntable contributed to the final sound but it was lean, unimpressive and pale. I highly suspect it’s because of those Sonus Faber speakers and believe Esoteric is a fine turntable considering it’s design approach. But you can never know.
View attachment 121817 View attachment 121818
here is a very short video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OaJJdziGHjjLD3Nf9kWIgwwP8jcIcWOa/view?usp=drivesdk

that OEM Ikeda arm, on that Toyko show picture, was a non starter for Fremer. he much preferred a Safir cobbled onto the Ikeda arm board. and his SAT. he was kinder in the review to that arm than behind the scenes. initially i had it too. not helpful for what the T1 can do. does not mean you would like it with a better arm, but it might have made a big difference. but maybe the system show sound was simply poor as you mention. my Primary Control FCL and Durand Tosca are much, much better on the T1 and show what it can do.. Ikeda certainly makes fine arms, but in this case it was not working for me, or Fremer.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Robin Wyatt has put up a Facebook post that “ The new Wilson Benesch at Michael Fremer’s distanced itsself from his current reference Krebs K3 by a margin- for me! “

the $200k WB, $300K WB, or $400k WB?

 

[plasmod3]

Indeed I bought the table without the ikeda arm. My philosophy is that as a source it's role is just to get you details... As much details and extraction as possible.. After that down in the chain you can then change tonality etcetc.

Hence currently my primary control fcl with atmc2032 wins against the sat cf 12 with the analogue relax ex1000 cart. Just ordered a cf9 ti. I think that with the mc 2022 will pretty much be my Himalayan.. I can say the tt is definately not lean. The phono cable and the sut is very very important. For eg the 618a silver gave me a lean sound but not a silver with a grey. Looks of tweak possibilities. Antrans also offers ebonite screws which I think is very very intriguing

 

[mtemur]

that OEM Ikeda arm, on that Toyko show picture, was a non starter for Fremer. he much preferred a Safir cobbled onto the Ikeda arm board. and his SAT. he was kinder in the review to that arm than behind the scenes

I read the review when it’s first came out. Tonearm has a certain role for the final sound but beyond that I never liked those new Sonus Faber speakers. For me SF was Amati, Guarneri and Extrema (30th anniversary).

 

[kozzmo]

Interesting, now he writes “The OMA’s bottom end may deliver a bit more low-end punch, but its midbass is somewhat leaner and less generous and its sustain and, by comparison, its decay a bit miserly.”

This is how I hear direct drive turntables in general, I have never heard one as pricey as the OMA but I have heard the new generation Technics stuff as well as the older Sp10 stuff and I still hear this lean quality to the mids...