Esoteric - reliability and repairs?
 

Not an owner yet but have always preferred, pardon the pun, non-esoteric hi-fi gear.

Mc and B&W have fit the bill for me nicely as I have good comfort that I will be able to get service many years down the line. If not because of the companies support policies, of which I know nothing about B&W, I figure these are among the highest volume manufacturers at these price points. Spare parts, schematics and expertise will always be out there in some fashion.

Looking into a K-03, and wondering what's the long term consensus both as to reliability and support for parts and repais should they be needed 5, 10, even 15 years from now.

How big is the support/authorized repair network?

What's the Esoteric suuport policy for older gear, parts etc?

Would love to hear from those that know the company better from a long-term use perspective.

Best,

Matt

It's a Teac... they have been around for eons. :)

Best service I have experienced in a long time. I had a customer with a 5 month old K03 that developed a noise from the transport bearing.

Without any muss or fuss, they shipped my customer a brand new unit. Shipping both ways covered by Esoteric. :thumbsup:

Can't beat that. Nice.

I tend to keep my gear for a long time, so this really matters to me.

PS - my Oppo-95 is as noisy as a helicopter.

:no:

Best,

Matt

It matters a lot to me too since I represent them. :ok:

I have a first edition Esoteric DV-50 multi format digital disc player. I purchased it off Audiogon, from a retailer in Utah, I live in Southern Nevada. It was a demo unit and was sold to make room for the next generation , DV-60, I think. My unit was sent back to Esoteric twice for repairs. Once under warranty and again when it was well outside the warranty. The first trip back was for the red book playback section. The second trip was for the DVD-A section.

Both times, I only paid shipping one way. Turnaround time was within two weeks, both times. The tech person I talked to each time was very nice and knowledgable. He answered all my questions and never rushed me off the phone. They were very apologetic and seemed embarrassed I was having problems and never tried to blame me, which is SOP at some companies. I can’t say enough regarding there customer service.

I haven’t had an issue with it since the last trip back, many years ago. Esoteric is one outstanding company. It will be my first stop when look’n for a DAC or plastic disc player.

Regards,

Allan

I've had a DV50-S since early 2005. Never had a problem. Extremely well built.

I have owned three of their players with no problems.

I've owned the X03 SE, the X01D2, the p03/D03 and the D02/P02/g-0 right now.

Not a problem with any pf them. To tell the whole truth, with the P03 /D03 combo, the P03 transport was a bit noisy. It was common in some units. Was just the way it was designed. I did complain and they sent me another P03 on them to compare both units and keep the one that I wanted better... I had both transports in my house for a week or so to compare. At the end kept the original unit since the noise was about the same.

It does not get better than that. You would expect it at that price, but with other bramds with similar prices is not aleays the case.

Again, great feedback guys.

Now, all I need is to find another deal like Jim's when I finally get around to pulling the trigger!

Best,

Matt