First, a huge thank you to Angie Lisi, distributor for ESOTERIC Japan, for providing me with all my ESOTERIC SACDs. When Angie began sending them for review or for use as amazing software for gear reviews, there were only a few in the ESOTERIC collection. As their fame as well nigh perfect examples of quality remasters spread, ESOTERIC picked up the pace and have released maybe 100 titles in their collection. In mine, 30 discs. I love each one. Great repertoire, carefully chosen performances and state of the art remastering on ESOTERIC’s amazing digital gear.

Second, a little playback/tech history. While I’m without vinyl playback—my much awaited Phasemation EA-350 Phono Amp will be arriving soon, I hope—I’ve been doing a deep dive with streaming and my small CD collection. I posted an article, The return of the CD?, which received 10,000 views in the first 8 hours. There’s life in the old girl yet.

Not a vintage ESOTERIC but considerably better than the original. Like all the examples in my collection, the remastering team add life, detail and musicality to the original discs.

Researching ESOTERIC Japan is easier these days—they’re posting more on social media, if primarily about their amazing hardware. It used to be impossible to find any concrete information about their SACDs. ESOTERIC, a subsidiary of TEAC, is a maker of high quality, high cost digital and pre/power components which have an almost cult like following. You don’t see many reviews, but when they appear, they are usually inveterate raves. Every time I’ve auditioned their kit at stores or shows, the sound has been knockout.

I’m assuming the SACD team, producer Motoaki Ohmachi (ESOTERIC) and mastering engineer Kazuie Sugimoto (JVC Mastering Center Daikanyama Studio), made the decision to remaster standard releases (mainly Universal Music—Decca, DG, Philips, etc) to promote ESOTERIC’s components. No matter the reason, a big thank you to the team.

This is masterful in every way. Brilliantly dynamic. It seems the ESOTERIC/JVC dynamic duo fixed Karajan’s twiddle-the-knobs interfering. Open, fresh and incredibly dynamic.

Now, the problem. The discs are limited editions, meaning, once released, they sell out very quickly. As the company’s reputation has grown, their SACDs disappear almost immediately upon release only to reappear on Ebay or Amazon.

When finally available 2nd hand, the prices can be astronomical (see photo below).

Most of the ESOTERIC SACDs are very good, many exceptionally so. But it just goes to show what prices legendary performances, recording reputation and disc rarity command.

The Solti/Decca Ring pictured at the bottom of the post, is running upwards of $3000. A 1500 limited edition run, never to be repeated. And commanding top price for the 14 SACDs.

Upwards of $600 on Ebay as of today. For a single disc. Sadly, not in my collection.

So, nothing succeeds like success.

Back to the tech. The one acronym which seems germane to the subject and the sound is SACD. SACD, or Super Audio Compact Disc, debuted in 1999 by Sony. It did not take too long to end up on the format rubbish heap. Most civilians didn’t care about the SACD’s hybrid format (play both SACD and Red Book layers), multi channel, surround sound and higher bit rate. They’d been asked to replace their collections one too many times. The Red Book CD was the end of the line, and most were begrudging about the switch from vinyl. At least they were now ‘Perfect Sound Forever’!

I have been very lucky to have on long term loan an MBL N31 CD/DAC ($15,400). It’s a beauty in every aspect of the digital world and every bit the quality of ESOTERIC kit. One important musical difference. MBL’s brilliant designer, Jürgen Reis, does not believe in SACD drives. It only has a Red Book drive. The TAS Hall of Famer has very specific reasoning why he eschews the drive and MQA support. You can read the particulars in my N31 review. No worries, at least for playback, as each ESOTERIC release can be played on standard CD players.

An excellent vinyl set, and wonderful on CD. But this remastering is superb; better in every way and demonstrates perfectly why this Boston/Kubelík DG performance is the benchmark *Má vlast.*

I don’t know the reason why the MBL CD transport and DAC interpret both my standard CD collection and these ESOTERIC gems absolutely beautifully. Even with very high end Ethernet Cables, the knockout MBL Roon Ready module in the N31 and my Roon Labs Nucleus Plus which houses a Roon CORE, and crazy high bit rates up to 192, my CD player still sounds more musically immersive than the equivalent streaming file. Hell if I know why. The math and science say the streaming tackle I have should be better. It’s very close, but the Mischa Maisky/Martha Argerich disc pictured below is instructive.

It’s a magnificent recording. Sounds wonderful on my original LP, my CD, a HiRes file, but not as beautiful and musically inviting as the incredible ESOTERIC SACD release. In fact, the cello, a difficult instrument to replicate on digital media, sounds spectacular on this SACD. Vinyl quality.

The SACD disc did have its proponents from the beginning. But then came HiRes files and streaming, and it was bye bye for all physical media. But, while the LP renaissance continues, I’ve been noticing standard CD and SACD prices inching up and music fans cleaning up on the never ending releases of huge CD box sets for a couple of bucks a disc. Same problem, though, especially with these marvellous box sets. One run, sold out, and the prices go nuts.

Back to ESOTERIC.

Others not mentioned so far include:

A remarkable box set of 3 SACDs. Typical of the ESOTERIC touch. Very musical with no hint of early digital glare with the HIP instruments sounding reedy, full and ready for some Brüggen action.

So brilliant, and, all things being equal, will give my fabulous vinyl reissue a run for its money.

Another 3 SACD set, and, if truth be told, my favourite ESOTERIC reissue. Perfect music with one of Mozart’s greatest interpreters with the greatest orchestra. Unfortunately, the vinyl and CDs were impressive but not immersive. The remastering has added the humanity and warmth Mozart requires. A masterpiece SACD set.

Initially, underrated both as performance and recording. ESOTERIC proves that wrong on both counts. The musical philosophy allows the humanism of conductors through with warmth and uber detail. Davis was not a natural interpreter for this music, but here both *Serenades* sound glorious.

King of the ESOTERIC remasters. The seminal Ring from the original Decca. 14 SACDs and three books (in Japanese). The original Decca LP pressings are legendary and these magnificent ESOTERIC discs push a Decca mint original LP played on a top vinyl setup damn close. The SACDs are significantly better than the standard CDs, with more air, atmosphere, excitement, depth and unbelievable dynamic range. The singers sound much more direct and impressive, too. Only 1500 were printed and the set now commands huge dough. Below is the box with cover off.

The SACD reissues of classical music (and jazz) by ESOTERIC have garnered a lot of attention, and, like their equipment, has an almost cult-like following. Each release is uncompromising in its quality and demonstrates the team’s commitment to recreating the sound as close to the original master as possible. Long may they continue. And, please, press more copies.

Below are the final three in my collection, all three worthy of a search but the least ‘successful’. If you pay the MSRP for them, you’ll be very happy, but don’t pay over the odds. Also, the Kyung-Wha Chung disc substitutes the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 for the Tchaikovsky. A bit of a lunchbag letdown.

Further information: ESOTERIC Japan