Teac D-03, P-03 Supplementary Manual
Esoteric P-03
CD Transport and
D-03 D/A Converter
Arnis Balgalvis
T
EAC IS ABOUT AS WELL-KNOWN a name in consumer
electronics as there is. But if you are looking for cutting
edge audiophile equipment within the Teac world, their
Esoteric division is where the truly hot action is. That’s
where some of today’s most-advanced and best-executed high-end equipment is being conceived and produced. With the introduction over the last couple of
years of some very sophisticated products like the two I
am reviewing here, Esoteric has firmly established a
name for itself in audio’s upper echelon.
From what I have observed, Esoteric does their best
work when it comes to CD playback products. They are
the same folks who, some 20 years ago, set the CD
playback world reeling when they unleashed the T-1
VRDS CD Drive Unit (CD Transport to everyone else).
With the introduction of the VRDS technology (that’s
Vibration-free Rigid Disc-clamping System), Esoteric
took a huge step forward in quality CD playback. It can
be argued that to this day the Esoteric VRDS transports
remain the standard by which all other transports are
measured. Why else would companies like Spectral and
Wadia buy the VRDS transport mechanism for inclusion
it in their own products?
As their latest wrinkle, Esoteric has upgraded the
VRDS CD transport to the VRDS-NEO level. This step
Reprinted from
The Audiophile Voice
Vol. 12, No. 2
was thought necessary not only to address the needs of
SACD playback, but also because it would significantly
improve playback of the standard Red Book CDs. After I
heard the $50,000 Teac flagship P-01 CD transport and
the dual mono D-01 DAC combination at the 2005
CES, I wrote in my Show report: “To me, this was the
very best sonic performance, at any CES, so far in this
century.” I still think that demonstration was one of the
most exhilarating CES experiences ever.
The Esoteric P-03 SACD and CD transport and D-03
D/A converter reviewed here are directly derived from
their two very expensive flagship units. Both of the
“03s” are very closely related to “01s” technically and
aesthetically, but the prices of the P-03 and D-03 are
significantly lower, though not at pocket-change levels,
with MSRPs of $13,200 each. The P-03 and the D-03
are styled and executed with an elegant to-die-for look,
right along the lines of the Big Brother units. Just like the
P-01 and the D-01 jewels, the P-03 and the D-03 sport
a champagne-hued anodized finish with the front and
side panels showing a brushed texture, while the top
panel is sandblasted. The resulting presentation is simply breathtaking.
But let’s take a deep breath here. As gorgeous as
these units are appearance-wise, their great looks are
Volume 12, Issue 2
To round out its versatility, the P-03 will also accept
an external clock on its BNC-type “Word Synch” input
connector, for frequencies of 44.1, 88.2, 176.4 and 100
kHz.
Unlike the P-01, which sported a separate power
supply, the P-03 transport is configured to be a single
box unit. The power supply components are contained
in a carefully isolated separate compartment within the
main housing, making it a part of the P-03 chassis.
P-03
not the main feature. These units have been designed
with only one purpose in mind – technical excellence.
And that is where they shine – as you will see, they provide positively brilliant performance.
When viewing the overall stellar performance picture, what stands out is their versatility. Esoteric has
seen fit to provide a bevy of desirable options to the
user to accommodate personal tastes, variations in
recording quality, music preference, and the wide variety of playback equipment likely to be encountered.
The P-03 Transport
To me, the P-03 transport with the upgraded VRDSNEO disc-clamping system is an absolute electromechanical marvel, the pinnacle of Esoteric’s electromechanical offerings. I cannot think of another more
sophisticated or better-executed product in all of highend audio.
When it comes to output protocol and interface
choices – choices that permit getting the best performance out of the P-03 or setting it up to optimally interface with other DACs – the P-03 transport is the most
versatile and flexible CD playback component offered
by Esoteric to date. It has “Anything you can do, I can
do better!” written all over it.
Want to play a Red Book CD? Take your choice of
outputs. The P-03 will give you AES/EBU on an XLR
connector, SPDIF on an RCA connector, Dual AES on
dual XLR connectors, and iLINK (IEEE 1394 or
“Firewire”) on its dedicated iLINK interface connector.
How about SACD? It’s ready! For delivering SACD
data, Esoteric provides a choice of two output formats:
the industry standard IEEE 1394 iLINK, usually known
as “Firewire,” or ES-LINK, a proprietary Esoteric-exclusive protocol. This iLINK uses its own dedicated connector, while the ES-LINK relies on the dual XLR outputs.
What about using another DAC with the P-03? Can
do! The P-03 will support AES/EBU or Dual AES/EBU, or
SPDIF on the dual XLR or RCA digital output connectors, respectively.
Yeah, but how about using the P-03 with another
SACD capable DAC? Ready and able, as long as the
other DAC has an iLINK or “Firewire” interface.
But there’s more. The P-03 can up-convert to 44.1
kHz, 88.2 kHz, and 176.4 kHz rates in addition to providing a digital filter off mode at 44.1 kHz.
How about up-sampling to the DSD rate? Absolutely!
As probably the only equipment to offer this choice, the
P-03 features PCM-to-DSD conversion functionality for
Red Book CD playback. With a DSD rate of 64f or
2.8224 MHz, this makes it the highest up-conversion
rate available in the industry today.
NEO, Not Just A Three-Letter Word
The NEO version has been designed to fulfill a new
set of requirements. For one thing, since the P-03 has to
accommodate SACD discs, the CD turntable holding
the disc needs to attain rotational speeds 4.5 times higher than what a standard CD requires. To that end,
Esoteric selected duralumin, a relatively new low-mass
metal originally developed for use in the aircraft industry as the material for their new CD turntable. To do
this, they had to solve some demanding machining
challenges presented by this new material. Furthermore,
the designers felt they wanted to have the turntable surface assume a new shape. This surface now is slightly
concave, so that when the disc is being played, and
thus is clamped to the turntable at its center portion, it
assumes a slightly concave contour. This shape was
implemented to precisely maintain the optical axis of
the laser pick-up with that of the pit surface of the CD
during playback.
To spin the CD disc, the Esoteric engineers created a
long-life, three-phase, brushless spindle motor using
new high-precision ceramic bearings. The new bearings
were newly developed exclusively for the P-03 and
allow the turntable to spin with extreme rotational stability and smoothness. Another new motor, a Hall-element sensing type, and also a brushless design for long
life, was chosen to drive the P-03 laser pick-up sled
along a rigid shaft. This critical process keeps the laser
sled precisely positioned as it traces the CD’s bit track at
its very center. I just want to remind you here that the
width of a CD bit track is roughly 1/20thof the width of
a human hair. The sled motor is controlled by highspeed, high-current servos to maintain accurate tracking
and to also provide very fast access speeds.
The whole VRDS NEO turntable mechanism is supported by a 20-mm thick bridge structure made of
SS400 steel, and the bridge alone weighs 3.75 lbs.
Structural integrity of this order contributes significantly
to the creation of a rigid and resonance-free environment, something of utmost importance when trying to
accomplish the playback process with state-of-the-art
accuracy.
The P-03 CD tray is a joy to watch and use. It glides
out in the quietest, smoothest manner I know of. Up to
now, the Linn CD-12 had the smoothest drawer, but the
P-03 is now my new “slide and glide” reference.
For a crowning touch, the P-03 transport is equipped
with a shutter mechanism for the CD tray opening.
Whenever the CD tray is summoned to the “Open”
position, the shutter internally pivots out of the way,
and closes once the tray has retracted into the housing.
This shutter not only keeps dust out, but it also prevents
potentially adverse internal sounds from escaping from
the transport’s inner sanctum during playback. In its
closed position, the shutter is rendered inert as it is
secured very snuggly against the player’s front panel.
the audiophile voice
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