Joejr, your skepticism is understandable. yes, when emmlabs/Meitner questions are posed......those that own these units answer. as far as patting ourselves on the back......i think it is more a case of sharing our discovery with the curious. if a person doesn't want to read posts about the emmlabs/Meitner.....just don't click on the post.
i, for one, was skeptical myself......until i heard the emmlabs at David Robinson's home in February......even then i had to get it into my room to compare with my references before i could unconditionally say that it was a new digital standard FOR ME, TO MY EARS.
as far as the transport issue.....your comment is right-on. there is a less-than-ideal situation using the Philips SACD 1000 instead of a purpose built transport. unfortunately, it will be another 3+ months AT LEAST before the new emmlabs transport is ready. the challenge of designing and bringing to market a ground-up digital transport is difficult for a small company like Meitner.
on the other hand, my transport has been flawless and the performance is a revelation. when the music starts i could give a rip that it is a modified Philips. i have no plans to get the new transport when it is ready.....so resale is not an issue for me. even if you add the $2k original investment for the modified Philips to the $5k list price of the new emmlabs transport; $7k is still much less than other top digital transports that can't touch the performance of the emmlabs/Meitner.
so any way you slice it......the performance of the emmlabs/Meitner justifies the investment compared to other SOTA choices (none of which can equal it's performance).