Esoteric

K-05XD

Introduced 2023$13,000 MSRP

The Esoteric K-05XD is the entry point of Esoteric's five-strong disc-player range, built around a newly designed VRDS-ATLAS "ATLAS 05" SACD transport and an in-house "Master Sound Discrete DAC" FPGA-based converter, and was praised by *What Hi-Fi?* as "without doubt one of the world's finest SACD/CD disc spinners."

MSRP

$13,000

Used market · Good

$7,100

-45% vs MSRP

as of Sep 1, 2026

Sell or trade this Add to my system

MSRP to used market

From $13,000 at launch to $7,100 today.

Specifications

DAC: Esoteric "Master Sound Discrete DAC" — in-house FPGA, 64-bit/512Fs Delta-Sigma modulator
Weight: 20.7 kg (45.6 lb)
Dimensions: 445 × 161 × 357 mm (17.5 × 6.3 × 14.1 in)
Analog outputs: XLR/ES-Link Analog (1 pair) and RCA (1 pair)
What hi fi scores: Sound 5/5, Build 5/5, Features 5/5
Frequency response: 5 Hz – 70 kHz (-3 dB, SACD 0dB, DSDF: F2, XLR output)
Transport mechanism: VRDS-ATLAS "ATLAS 05" Super Audio CD transport, exclusive to this model
Signal to noise ratio: 110 dB (IHF-A, SACD 0dB, DSDF: F2, XLR output)
Digital inputs outputs: Inputs: USB-B, coaxial, optical (192kHz & DoP); Outputs: XLR (AES/EBU), coaxial; plus 10MHz external clock input (BNC)
Format resolution support: SACD, CD; PCM up to 32-bit/384kHz; DSD up to DSD512; MQA decoding
Total harmonic distortion: 0.0007% (1 kHz, SACD 0dB, DSDF: F2, XLR output)