i cannot comment on the 581, but the EMM CDSA was, on the whole, a much better player than the 861se that i owned. the 861 had better build quality, better / deeper bass, and a false leading edge; the EMM was far more detailed, better resolution / staging, more organic tone. i'll cover this in my review on dagogo.com, pub 11/1.
i would *love* to hear the 581, as the EMM is not a perfect player, regardless of what anyone says. ---nothing is.