A'Phile, I cannot comment directly on how the Panny sounds vs my Teac, since I never made it to the meet that Tomek put on, where he tested the Teac vs Panny, vs ASL tube amp. If you go to the Critic's Circle, there is a thread by Tomek, where he points out that for him, using the Panny direct digital from the source, and the Teac analog from the source, they were indistinguishable.
I can comment that, for me, the JVC ES-1 does not have the same clean and clear top end, that my Teacs do. Using either my Totems, the Boston Acoustics HD5's I just bought for HT, or the CSS full range drivers, the Teac has "something" in the upper registers on the JVC. The JVC DOES have this strange ability to sometimes just sound RIGHT, but for the most part, on more music, in my room, to my ears etc, the Teac has the edge.
I need also to point out that I am a confirmed subwoofer addict, and cannot run my system without one - this necessitates, for me, running the Mensa into a regular input (not the vaunted DVD/Multi) with a slight loss of clarity again - nothing against the JVC, it is stupid good for a 5x100w device, and if I used mains that delved deeper into the bass, I would likely choose it for convenience...
I am likely to sell the JVC off to my good friend, who has a whole home audio desire that the JVC should work perfectly for in all channel stereo - we just picked up some in-walls for his living room, and his dining room already has some Mirage omnipolar bookshelves - he uses his computer as a source, and I have helped him configure a wireless solution that allows him to control volume and content, anywhere on his property.
