Esoteric announced Black Editions of its two integrated amplifiers on 30 September, shipping this month. Nothing changes inside. Esoteric says the circuits and specifications are the same as the silver versions, and the price is the same too. But the news gave me a reason to add the Esoteric F-01 and Esoteric F-02 to the database. They are the first Esoteric products we hold.
The Esoteric F-02 Black Edition, 120 watts a channel and 21,000 dollars
The two are odd twins. Same 21,000 dollar US price. Same chassis, 445 x 191 x 471 mm. Same weight within 200 grams. Same preamp, same phono stage, same inputs. The only real difference is the power amplifier. The F-01 gives you 30 watts a channel of pure Class A. The F-02 gives you 120 watts of Class A/B. So which one should you buy? That depends almost entirely on your speakers, which is a question our amp-speaker matcher can answer.
Quick facts
- Both cost 21,000 dollars in the US, silver or the new Black Edition. In Europe the F-02 is 2,000 euros cheaper.
- F-01: 30 W a channel into 8 ohms in Class A, 60 W into 4 ohms. At 350 dollars a watt, it is the most expensive per watt of the 300 stereo amps we hold.
- F-02: 120 W into 8 ohms, 240 W into 4 ohms, Class A/B.
- At normal volume both drive almost anything. Loud, the F-01 runs out of power on 898 of 1,226 speakers, the F-02 on 36.
- No DAC and no streaming on either. There is an option board slot, but no current DAC board for it.
The two side by side
Every figure below comes from the specification pages on esoteric.jp. The US price is from Esoteric's Black Edition press release, and a US dealer lists the silver versions at the same figure.
| F-01 | F-02 |
|---|
| US price | 21,000 dollars | 21,000 dollars |
| Europe / UK price | 22,000 euros / 21,999 pounds | 20,000 euros / 19,999 pounds |
| Amplifier class | Class A | Class A/B |
| Power, 8 ohms | 30 W a channel | 120 W a channel |
| Power, 4 ohms | 60 W a channel | 240 W a channel |
| Lowest speaker impedance | 4 ohms | 4 ohms |
| Signal to noise | 104 dB | 110 dB |
| Damping factor | 500 | 500 |
| Power drawn at idle | 230 W | 110 W |
| Size (W x H x D) | 445 x 191 x 471 mm | 445 x 191 x 471 mm |
| Weight | 32.2 kg | 32.4 kg |
The F-02 in silver. From the front, only the small model badge tells the two apart
Look at the idle row. The F-01 draws 230 watts from the wall while playing nothing, more than twice the F-02. That is what Class A means. The output transistors are always fully on, whether there is music or not, so most of that power ends up as heat. The reward is that the transistors never switch off and on as the signal swings, which is where a Class A/B design can add a little distortion. The price is fewer watts for the money, and a hot box.
What you get with either
The F-01 rear panel: three XLR, three RCA and a phono input, plus an option board slot
Esoteric built both from parts of its Grandioso flagship range. The preamp is a fully balanced, dual mono design with a stepped volume control of 1,120 steps. There are three XLR inputs, three RCA inputs and a phono input for MM or MC cartridges. You get bass, middle and treble controls, a 6.3 mm and a balanced 4-pin XLR headphone output, and a pre-out for adding a power amp later.
There is no digital input. No DAC, no USB, no network, no Bluetooth. There is an option board slot on the back, and some retailers say Esoteric's older OP-DAC1 DAC board fits it. But Esoteric's own page for that board says it was discontinued in 2020, and it does not list the F-01 or F-02 among the amps it fits. I would not buy either amp counting on it. Esoteric expects you to own one of its disc players or network players. If your music lives on a laptop or a TV, the F-01 or F-02 is only half a system.
The F-01: 350 dollars a watt
The Esoteric F-01 in silver, 30 watts a channel of Class A in the same 32 kg box
Of the 300 stereo amplifiers we hold, the F-01 costs the most per watt by a long way: 350 dollars for each of its 60 total watts into 8 ohms. Second is the Pass Labs INT-25, a 25 watt Class A integrated, at about 167 dollars a watt. The F-02 is fourth, at 87.50 dollars a watt. Cheap watts are not good watts, and nobody buys a Class A amp to save money. But it tells you what you are paying for: the way the F-01 makes its power, not the amount.
What the matcher says at normal volume
I ran both amps against all 1,226 passive speakers in the database that have sensitivity and impedance figures. The matcher works out how much power each speaker needs to reach a given level at your seat, then checks the amp can supply it into that speaker's impedance.
At normal listening, 95 dB peaks from 3 metres in a medium room, the two are nearly the same. The F-02 is short of power on 3 speakers. The F-01 is short on 14. Most of the 14 are low-sensitivity designs at 81 to 83 dB. But two of them are exactly the kind of speaker people pair with a Class A amp: the Harbeth P3ESR XD2 and the Spendor A1.2. Both are small British monitors at 83 dB. The matcher puts their need at 50 and 38 watts. 30 watts is not enough on paper, so you would hear the F-01 clip on peaks sooner than you expect.
Turn it up, and the gap opens
How many of 1,226 passive speakers each amplifier runs out of power on at loud levels
At loud listening, 102 dB peaks from the same seat, the picture changes completely. The F-01 is short of power on 898 of the 1,226 speakers, 73% of them. The F-02 is short on 36. The chart puts them next to four other amps at or near this price. The Luxman L-507Z is short on 78, the Accuphase E-3000 on 228. The Devialet Astra and Marantz Model 10 barely miss any.
The F-02 does well here because it doubles its power into 4 ohms, 120 W to 240 W. The Accuphase E-3000 goes from 100 to only 150, so on 4 ohm speakers it runs out sooner, even though the 8 ohm figures are close.
Now narrow it to speakers someone spending 21,000 dollars on an amp might actually buy, pairs between 10,000 and 40,000 dollars. We hold 137. At loud levels the F-02 is short on 4 of them. The F-01 is short on 85.
The speakers the F-01 is made for
The Klipsch La Scala AL5, 105 dB: about 1 watt gets it to loud levels
The F-01 is not a bad amplifier. It is a specialist one. Of those 137 expensive pairs, the matcher finds 24 where the F-01 has power to spare even at loud levels, and they have one thing in common: high sensitivity. Horns like the Klipsch La Scala AL5 at 105 dB need about 1 watt. The Tannoy GRF90 at 95 dB, the Fyne Audio F703 and the JBL 4367 at 94 dB all fall comfortably inside 30 watts.
Across the whole database, 235 of 1,227 passive speakers with a sensitivity figure are rated at 92 dB or more, and 70 at 95 dB or more. If your speakers are in that group, the F-01 has all the power you need, and you get the Class A circuit for free. If they are a typical 86 to 89 dB floorstander or a small monitor, the F-02 is the safer choice at the same price.
You can check your own speakers with the F-01 and F-02 in the matcher. The F-01 at loud levels and the F-02 at loud levels lists are ranked best match first.
Where they fall short
Inside the F-02: one 940 VA transformer, eight large smoothing capacitors and a heat sink for each channel
The Black Edition is paint. It costs the same as the silver version and sounds the same. Buy it if you prefer black, and do not let "limited edition" rush you.
Europe pays more for the F-01 than for the F-02. In the US the two cost the same. In Europe the F-01 is 22,000 euros and the F-02 is 20,000, and the UK split is similar. If you are buying outside the US, the F-02 is also the cheaper one.
No digital inputs at 21,000 dollars. A 1,000 dollar amplifier with a DAC can play from a TV or a laptop. These cannot, and the option slot has no current DAC board, so budget for a separate source.
The power supply upgrade is extra. Esoteric sells a PS-01F external supply for the preamp section of either model at 5,700 dollars, also in black. That takes the F-01 to 26,700 dollars before you add a source or speakers.
The matcher works from published figures. It assumes speaker sensitivity is a little optimistic and models a real room, but it is an estimate, not a measurement. Class A amps are often said to sound louder than their watts suggest. I cannot verify that, and the matcher does not try.
F-01 vs F-02 compared
| FEATURE and SPECS COMPARISON | |  |  |
| Model | Esoteric F-01 | Esoteric F-02 |
| Type | Integrated Amplifier | Integrated Amplifier |
| Amplifier Class | Class A | Class A/B |
| Power into 8 ohms | 30 watts | 120 watts |
| Power into 4 ohms | 60 watts | 240 watts |
| Minimum Impedance | 4 ohms | 4 ohms |
| THD | 0.008% | 0.008% |
| Signal to Noise Ratio | 104 | 110 |
| Frequency Bandwidth | 10 Hz-100 kHz | 10 Hz-100 kHz |
| Damping Factor | 500 | 500 |
| Built-in DAC | | |
| Analog Inputs | 7 | 7 |
| Phono Input | | |
| Phono Type | MM and MC | MM and MC |
| HDMI Input | No | No |
| XLR Input | Yes | Yes |
| Headphone Output | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth | No | No |
| Wi-Fi | No | No |
| Tone Controls | Yes, bass, middle and treble +/-12dB | Yes, bass, middle and treble +/-12dB |
| Handheld Remote | | |
| Height | 191.0mm | 191.0mm |
| Width | 445.0mm | 445.0mm |
| Depth | 471.0mm | 471.0mm |
| Weight | 32.20kg | 32.40kg |
| MSRP | 21000 USD | 21000 USD |
| Check Current Price | Amazon, B&H Photo | Amazon, B&H Photo |
Esoteric F-01 Key Specs
- 30W into 8 ohms, 60W into 4 ohms (Class A)
- Integrated Amplifier
- Minimum Impedance: 4 ohms
- 0.008% THD
- Signal to Noise Ratio: 104dB
- Frequency Bandwidth: 10 Hz-100 kHzHz
- Phono Input (MM and MC)
- XLR Input
- Headphone Output
- Weight: 32.20 kg
- Dimensions (H x W x D): 191.0 x 445.0 x 471.0 mm
- Read the Review
Questions answered
What is the difference between the Esoteric F-01 and F-02?
Only the power amplifier. The F-01 makes 30 watts a channel into 8 ohms in Class A. The F-02 makes 120 watts in Class A/B. The preamp, phono stage, inputs, size and price are the same.
How much do the Esoteric F-01 and F-02 cost?
Both are 21,000 dollars in the US, in silver or the limited Black Edition. In Europe the F-01 is 22,000 euros and the F-02 is 20,000 euros. In the UK they are 21,999 and 19,999 pounds.
Is the Esoteric F-01 powerful enough for my speakers?
At normal volume, almost certainly. Our matcher finds it short of power on only 14 of 1,226 speakers. At loud levels it is short on 898 of them. With speakers rated at 92 dB or more it is fine. With a typical 86 to 89 dB speaker, choose the F-02.
What changed in the Esoteric Black Edition?
Only the finish. Esoteric says the circuits and specifications are unchanged. The F-01, F-02 and the PS-01F power supply are all available in black from October 2026.
Do the Esoteric F-01 and F-02 have a DAC?
No. Both are analogue only, with three XLR inputs, three RCA inputs and a phono input for MM or MC cartridges. There is an option board slot, but the only DAC board said to fit it, the OP-DAC1, was discontinued in 2020. Plan on a separate CD player, streamer or DAC.
Why does the F-01 use so much power at idle?
Because it runs in Class A, so its output transistors are always fully on. It draws 230 watts doing nothing, against 110 watts for the F-02.
So which would you take for 21,000 dollars: 30 watts of Class A and a pair of sensitive speakers to match, or 120 watts and the freedom to use almost anything?