has anyone tried PS Audio perfect wave duo

Here is my experience with the PerfectWave transport (PWT) that I received a few days ago.

Nice and well built piece although the drawer makes an awfully cheap sound when it opens/closes. The touchscreen is a nice feature but with the unit I have received it flickers once in a while (intended?).

To evaluate the sound quality of the PWT I compared its music presentation with my 2-channel reference transport/Dac system consisting of a Forsell Air Reference MarkII transport and an Audio Synthesis Dac2 D/A converter connected to a Meridian G 68 XXD pre/pro. Amplifiers were Krell KSA-300S, speakers Apogee Divas and cables NBS or Transparent Audio Ultra/Reference. The power cables for the two transports were matched and provide balanced power from an Equitech power supply (50amp dedicated circuit). For the comparison of the transports I used the same Redbook CDs with Jazz, female opera singer, classical piano, violin, whole orchestra, and choir acapella music. The PWT was connected to the pre/pro in two different configurations: I first connected it via NBS Master S/PDIF digital cable with a digital input of my Meridian XXD pre/pro to provide the D/A conversion (24bit/96kHz) dacs. Alternatively I connected the PWT via an NBS Pro balanced digital cable with the Audio Synthesis Dac2 which in turn was connected to the Meridian pro/pro in the same way as the Forsell transport. So alternative one was "all digital" from transport to digital pre/pro, alternative two included an external D/A converter in addition.
For both pathways the PWT sounded detailed and with a solid lower range. Voices and solo instruments were presented with good texture and placement. The overall impression of the sound was on the bright side and not very lively. It was clean and precise, but somewhat 'sterile' (esp. live recordings). Unexpectedly the soundstage and the volume of the reproduction increased when the path with the additional external dac was taken.
The direct A/B comparison of the PWT with the Forsell transport with the same diverse music material revealed for both setups that the PWT cannot reach the sound quality of the presentation of the Forsell. The Forsell transport presents voices and instruments more solid in their position and more natural in their texture. There is more ambiance/detail in the presentation, it is significantly more lively and engaging. The differences were not subtle and an audience of several audiophiles could pick them up in a blind A/B session easily.
Although the PWT is obviously a very good sounding transport it is no match for the transport (Forsell) used in this comparison as a reference.

If the PerfectWave transport can only 'shine' if it is connected via I2S to the PWD, why then did PS Audio separate the two and sell them separately for $3k each? I have evaluated the transport for what is is against another unit with the same intended funcionality and I think this is fair. The fact that PS Audio has chosen not to give more emphasis on the quality of the PWT's S/PDIF and balanced digital outputs is unfortunate, but it is what it is.
Yes I will also evaluate the hi-rez DVD-R music material and try to borrow a PWD before I will come to a final conclusion.
And Levy, you may be very happy with the PW combo when you integrate it optimally into your system (as you describe). All I am saying in my post/comparison is that the PWT itself does not sound as good as a high-end transport like the Forsell.
Good luck and share your impressions when you have the combo at hand.

Mribob,
I also have the Meridian HD621 audio processor hooked up to the G68 pre/pro. So I would have loved to run the signal from the PWT into the 621 to use the Meridian's apodizing filters and the upsampling (downsampling for 24bit/172 kHz DVD-R recordings) capability, but the HDMI-type output of the PWT carries an I2S signal that is not compatible with HDMI processing. So this connection does not work. I had spoken with Scott McGowan at PS Audio a few days ago and he confirmed this incompatibility.

Today the DVD-R (HRx format) from Reference Recordings with 24bit/172 kHz music came in and I tried to play it with the PMT. Neither the Audio Synthesis nor the Meridian G68's dac could process this hi-rez signal coming through the PMT. So unless you invest the additional $3k for the PWD or you have a dac that can handle such high resolution formats (are there any out there at this time?), one cannot 'play' HRx material with the PMT.

Interestingly enough my Dell PC's (T7400) drive and sound card together with the Media Monkey player software played the hi-rez DVD-R just fine. Unfortunately the little PC speakers I have connected to the PC do not allow me to appreciate the sound quality of this $45 HRx disc. Maybe I can stream the wav files from the HRx through a Logitech transporter so it downsamples them to 24bit/96kHz and sends the signal to the Meridian pre/pro. Have to try this another time.

Just had a chance to test and hear the new large gauge Transparent Audio USB cable. It is awesome! It comes at a standard length of 5m which makes the setup of the units easy and flexible. It is said that it can be run up to 50 feet without loss of sonic quality. The 1-m cable sounds better than the acclaimed Belkin Gold Series and is quite affordable ($90/m).

Jdoris, the touch panel of the PWT that I had for evaluation was flickering slowly from the get-go. I also saw halos around the images that you might have experienced as "shadow" images. When I returned the unit to PSA I mentioned those observations with the hope they will be addressed in future releases.