I have been using Amarra since '09 and have been mostly happy with it. I am using the current version, I may have to look into Steve's recommended older version that I surely had at one time. Steve, I assume that you are using the Amarra Symphony? I have the non-Symphony version that used to be called Amarra Mini. I probably need to explore the EQ settings further (I understand from Steve's link in one of his posts above that I would need to buy a spectrum analyzer program & possibly a microphone), I currently use one of the preset EQ settings, and use the cache & playlist modes.
I have not compared Amarra with any other players, but in my system it sounds pretty good. I have been wondering if upgrading from Amarra to Amarra Symphony for the additional eq functions would be worthwhile.