Playback designs followup?


There was a flurry of impressions when this player first came out, all of which was very favourable. I would really like to hear from the original users and others who are very familiar with this player about their impressions about its sound.
For the lucky owners, is it still as spectacular as initial impressions suggested or maybe even better with ongoing use??
Thanks
ecka
Some readers of this thread may be interested in the thread about the Playback Designs MPS-5 firmware update, as follows:

MPS-5 Update Thread
I used to own the top of the line marantz 7a-s1 and it was broken in and it pales in comparison to the emm labs and the playback. I sold the marantz to get the playback and it likes going from a toyota camry to a Porsche.
Not to rain on your parade, but while the Playback Designs player might be great, your over selling it just turns me & many others off.

On a different note, a friend of mine owned one for several months and just prefered a unit by a different manufacturer. Different strokes for different folks. I love my EMM and there is no reason for me to change unless something is truly that much better. I find we spend tons of money for small incremental changes. Especially in digital where it is evolving so quickly w. Hi Res downloads and superior connectivity around the corner. I am holding out for USB 3.0 and a NAS Raid Terebyte drive. Then we are talking. Since USB 3.0 is not that far off and its throughput is much higher than even firewire, for me it is worth waiting for any CD Player/ DAC to handle this & hopefully multiple types of hi res files. Playing FLAC would be great as well.
Interesting response, Dgad.

I will say that the Emm line is a top alternative that a prospective Playback Designs buyer should consider. I think they're very close.

I've listened closely to Emm, dCS, Ayre and Esoteric, among others, but "there's no reason for me to change", as someone recently said.
I use my MPS-5 in a Professional Mastering room. For the past 4-5 months we have provided every DSD and hi-rez tranfer to a major dowload site. The MPS-5 betters our EMM Labs transport/converters as well as our $18k Digital Audio Denmark converters. This is as good as SACD and CD get! I've already made my money back on the unit!