Mark Levinson No.512 CD Player---Opinions

I've had a chance to audition the 512 against the Boulder 1021, Meridian 808.2 and the DCS Puccini and I had a preference for the 512 overall, although all 4 are excellent machines. The Levinson may certainly be the "best buy" of the lot, being "only" 15K!

I finally heard this player at a store just to see what some of the hype was & having owned some levinson players in the past.
Now I would have loved to have done a a/b with some players I have & others in our small group. Sorry to say the store would never allow that. I heard enough to render a opinion. This player although good, does not rate up there with some of the better players in the price ranges below, equal & more expensive. Styling has taken a step back also. Sound wise, yes improved over the 390s, but no where near the performance of some of the newer players. Still more of a darker colder sound than I prefer.
With the levinson recent track record of service I could not justify the 15k price tag.

i have to save the 15 k so i can get a couple dig.amps for 50 k.

For $15K it should weigh 60lbs, be machined from a solid biilet of aluminum and be hand crafted with custom designed and tested parts. Oh, the remote should be made of solid gold as well:O)

Has anyone compared this player to the top offerings from Meridian, Ayre, ARC, DCS ?? It seems to me that at this price range, the players from those companies are the ones to beat, especially the one from Meridian since ST declared the SOTA for digital playback.