AMR / EMM / PLAYBACK Designs

I have also had the PD MPS5 and Emm Labs XDS1 for extended listening in my setup. In the end I clearly preferred the Emm Labs, it sounded more controled, dynamic, neutral and above all with blacker backgrounds (really impressive here). The PD is more flexible tough given its array of inputs and 24/192 capability.
At the end of the day I bought the XDS1.

Did you find the Playback design to sound a little closed in compared to EMM. Like comparing moving magnet to moving coil.

Yes indeed. I found lushness in the PD whereas the Emm player sounded more neutral.

Its sounds to me that the Ayon CD5 would be better than the Play Back Design if you want that warmth, but the Ayon may be more open.

I changed my mind a bit about EMM. The other day, I spent several hours listening to XDS1 in my friend's system with top of the line T&A active speaker, McIntosh preamp (can't remember which one). The first couple of hours, using Kubala Sosna Elation power cord, I still was not impressed. The sound on many tracks was thin, piano was very clear but too light weight for my taste. However, when it Elation cord was replaced with Elrod Gold Statment, it sounded much much better. I don't think that Elation was a bad cable but may be it just did not match well with EMM. Perhaps the same could be say of Synergistic Research Tesla T3 cord that I used with EMM. Unfortunately EMM is already a stretched for my budget, throw Elrod on top of that, it is not healthy for my bank account so I think I'll stick with Playback for now.