An Esoteric journey

[2fastdriving]

A few years ago, I bit the bullet and bought an Esoteric K-03 based on Ivan's and Dan's reviews and posts. I have rarely been so happy with a single component. It was absolutely everything everyone said it was: built like a tank, beautiful to behold, and sound to die for.

Fast forward a few years, and I guess you could say that my system was "complete". Of course it never is, right? I had the Ref 5SE, Ref 75 (w KT-150's), K-03, and Sasha 2's. As I was looking for the "weak link" I focused on the Ref 75. After all, it was the lowest priced component in my system Seriously, with it's tubes, I wondered if I was getting the best bass out of my Sasha's. I began to covet D'Agostino amps. I borrowed a Classic Stereo and was impressed with the bass output. However the mids were not as silky and organic as my Ref75. I actually ended up trying several amps...but the Ref75 bested them all in the midrange. It became clear that if I wanted the "good" D'Agostino it would cost me 30k minimum (stereo Momentum). THAT one has a magical midrange.

Then I saw Ivan posted his Esoteric A-02 for sale. I had been to his house on the Cape and heard it myself. It sounded great. After a chat with Ivan it sounded like maybe this was the ticket. At the very least it would be a step between my current situation and where I wanted to be. So I bought it, without ever hearing it in my system. That's not something I'd normally do but I know the brand and I know Ivan.

After eagerly awaiting it's arrival, it showed up on a freezing cold day just before Christmas. I brought it in the house and unboxed it. The temperature difference was apparent as soon as I did so, because the amp was covered in condensation. So much that I literally wiped puddles off it. I figured I should wait a bit before lighting it up, so I took a regular old box fan and ran it over the amp for a few hours. When it appeared dry, I put it into my system.

It sounded horrible. I didn't know what to make of it, but something just wasn't right. It had weak bass, no depth, and was kid of shrill. I listened for a whole night and couldn't shake the feeling that I made a bad mistake.

I called Ivan and explained it to him. He was shocked to hear this and offered some advice, we talked about a few cable changes I could make...I was using TA ref, which is "tuned" to tube vs. solid state. Ivan arranged for some WW cables to be sent to me, just to see if that woke things up.

After trial and error of several weeks, no power cords or speaker cables were really doing it. Here I was with an amp that is basically new, with an MSRP of $18k, and it sounded "off". How could an amp with the word "Esoteric" milled into it be BAD! My brain hurt even thinking about that. What did I do!!!! So I chalked it up to my ears, my tastes, my system. I didn't know. I really doubted myself!!! I put it up for sale here on AA and a few other places. I had a tough time finding a buyer unless I wanted to really reduce my price. I got angry at the whole situation.

At this point, I decided to exercise the one option I had left: Ivan gave me a factory warranty with it, so why not ship it to the warranty repair shop? So I did. And waited.

Ted, the owner from TAP electronics in CA looked it over and found a bad speaker output relay. He replaced it. He then put it through a battery of tests and declared it was meeting all factory specs. I explained to him that I just didn't think it sounded right and he honestly wasn't sure the new relay would affect the sound quality. I asked him to listen to it, so he did, and compared to other amps he has there.

He sent it back to me and as soon as I hooked it up, I knew things were better! Suddenly it opened up, the bass was better, the soundstage widened, and the shrillness went away. It was a whole different amp! As much as I thought my hearing was off and it was "just me", I really did zero in on an electrical issue with the amp.

The only thing I can surmise is, when I fired it up with all that condensation, it shorted out that relay and it was basically shorting out a channel. It played through that channel but it definitely affected the sound. So the lesson here for everyone is: DO NOT FIRE UP A NEW COMPONENT UNTIL IT HAS COME TO ROOM TEMPERATURE! Ivan even started a thread about this a while back after we discussed it. Yep, I made a rookie mistake.

So I let Ivan know, thanked Ted, and I am listening to it now with a big grin. It sounds great. The midrange is even better than my Ref75. The bass still isn't QUITE what I was hoping for, but it's definitely good. Soundstage is at least as good as my Ref75.

The funny thing is, this isn't the first time I sent an Esoteric component to TAP for service. I had an issue with my K-03 as well! Ivan said I am the only customer of his to ever get two Esoteric products fixed under warranty. Which is weird because I've had lots of other brands which are "inferior" but have never given me problems. I guess it's just a combination of dumb luck and rookie mistakes. But I do believe Esoteric is a great brand and I will continue to be an ambassador for it.

I want to thank Ivan and Ted at TAP for providing me great service. I didn't enjoy any of this, but I'm finally in a good spot. Will I keep the A-02? Yes. Will I sell my Ref75? Probably. Unless I decide to start a second system. Do I still want a D'Agostino Momentum? Yeah I kinda do, but it's out of reach right now. The Esoteric fills the gap nicely for now. It's exactly what I thought I was buying in the first place.



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[Cohibaman]

Whew....what a story! I'm glad it all worked out for you.

[Masterlu]

Marc... A happy ending to a frustrating issue for sure. I'm glad to know you are finally enjoying the A02. Remember, it's not even broken in yet.

[Stretch]

Cool story Marc and you have a great looking system.

Have you tried bi-amping with the Ref75/A02? "Just" another set of cables...

(My powerball dream ref system has Ref250SE/M1's driving Aida's. I've decided I'm winning the NZ$14M PB tonight, so will place my order tomorrow. Or should I tri-amp?)

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by Stretch

Cool story Marc and you have a great looking system.

Have you tried bi-amping with the Ref75/A02? "Just" another set of cables...

(My powerball dream ref system has Ref250SE/M1's driving Aida's. I've decided I'm winning the NZ$14M PB tonight, so will place my order tomorrow. Or should I tri-amp?)

LOL no...I haven't considered that. If one was clearly better in bass and one in the midrange I guess it might be something to consider. But like I state, the A02 is one of the few amps I have tried that can match or better the Ref75 in midrange. That is high praise.

[2fastdriving]

If you want to test your amp thoroughly, put the Diana krall away for a minute and turn this up: http://youtu.be/mmceSj07_fs

[pete6737]

Marc
Glad to hear that you resolved this issue. I also experienced a new component that was wrong out of the box ( no longer in my system) and I can appreciate the frustration you experienced. You have a beautiful system/room.

[bart]

Marc, thank you for sharing this story.
We can all learn from it!

Now I understand even more why my amps were delivered warm...

[Cohibaman]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

If you want to test your amp thoroughly, put the Diana krall away for a minute and turn this up: http://youtu.be/mmceSj07_fs

Nice, just don't use the YouTube version.

[jdandy]

Marc.......Phew! Finally got off the horse.