Esoteric K-05XD Super Audio CD Player

What we Think,

"The Esoteric K-05XD provides a broad and precise audio experience. Instruments are carefully layered and stay well-defined, even during complex pieces. We love the spacious soundstage and the crystal clear presentation. The Esoteric excels at revealing subtle details and accurately positioning the musicians in their place. It truly excels in recreating  a true and accurate reproduction that stays faithful to the original recording."

Elegant Design. Superior Sound Deserving of the Term "High-End".

The Esoteric K-05XD boasts the innovative VRDS (Vibration-Free Rigid Disc-Clamping System), featuring the Atlas 05 transport adapted from the flagship Grandioso model. This design minimizes and controls vibrations through clamping, damping, and mechanical grounding, securely clamping discs to eliminate unwanted vibrations. By correcting disc warpage and enhancing optical axis accuracy, it significantly reduces read errors for outstanding sound quality.

Chassis and Component Layout

The VRDS-ATLAS transport mechanism is centrally positioned and firmly mounted to a 5mm-thick steel bottom chassis via a 2mm-thick steel base plate, supported by three unique pin-point feet. The laser-cut bottom chassis effectively disperses and suppresses vibrations. Inside the dual-layer chassis, audio circuit boards are on the upper layer, while power supply circuits and transformers are on the lower layer to prevent magnetic flux leakage and vibration, minimizing power supply wiring for pure sound quality.

Superior Sound Through Advanced Quality Control

Creating high-precision discrete DACs requires expertise and stringent quality control in electronic board manufacturing. Esoteric’s factory uses world-class board mounting technology, including oxygen-free furnace soldering in a medical-grade clean room. The Master Sound Discrete DACs' quality is backed by technology developed through experience in audio, medical, aerospace, and defense electronic circuit board manufacturing.

Advanced Digital Compatibility

Esoteric’s custom circuit, paired with FPGA-based algorithms, supports 32-bit/384kHz PCM hi-res files and DSD512 music streams, with MQA support included. The purity of the clock signal is crucial for digital circuit performance, and Esoteric leads with a dedicated discrete clock module instead of the common IC-based designs, resulting in lower jitter and superior sound quality.

Versatile Connectivity

The K-05XD features multiple digital inputs (USB Type B, BNC coax, and optical), allowing external sources to benefit from its in-house DAC section. It supports MQA technology, enabling playback of MQA-CD and MQA audio files and streams, delivering the original master recording's sound. The K-05XD also functions as a D/A converter unit, with various digital input terminals, including USB for DSD 22.5MHz and asynchronous transmission.

Specification