It's my personal opinion that this tuner's been ganged up on by a certain pro-unobtanium (Trio, Accuphase, etc.) contingent in the blogosphere. I own a late U.S. production model and I don't hear anything that agrees with anti-Japanese bias that sources to the JA biased early '90's Stereophile review. (If you read the actual review it could only be disaparaged if compared to a direct CD feed, which I think is problematic in and of itself....) Listen first, and make up your own mind. It's the best non-analog (Pioneer 9500 II, 9800, etc.) I've used.