Guys, don't believe anything that crazy Camboinc (a/k/a "Brian the Bose Guy") says. His main system consists of a Bose Wave radio and a Mattel "Close & Play" Record Player (but I have heard he has a $6,000 power cord on his Close and Play thus taking it to almost Samsung Direct Drive levels).
Alright, on this serious side, I've heard Brian's system and he is always experimenting to get the best sound possible from his system (just ask me, he is always stealing my cables!!!). He's been able to extract great sound from all of his gear. He's had both Sim players and knows them well. I had always wanted to hear the Sim and when I heard it in Brian's system was duly impressed. Also, it's build quality is exceptional (well, except that thing-a-ma-bob that keeps falling off the whos-a-ma-jungit and cracking the CDs in two! Just kidding!).
Based on your goals and considering that the older units can be had around $2,000, the Sim seems like a great choice to me.
Good luck,
Frank
PS- My advice, get the old unit with the PU power supply and have an ABCD pretzel (chips are too fattening and they bloat the sound) installed. Ah hell, just get the Bose!