Well I love my BCD3. I've heard things I previously never knew were on my cd recordings. The BCD 1 was marvelous but this one digs deeper into the recorded data...remember too the BCD 3 is third generation processing and DA conversion. It uses what seems to be a better made loader than the Phillips one in the BCD1. It's a tray loader from Stream Unlimited . I did buy a spare one as a back up before there's even a chance of that being discontinued as well.....lol 
Yes, I agree the BCD-3 is the best source I've heard coming from my rig. There maybe something better on the market but I haven't heard it and it may cost more. I doctor recordings that I playback through the BCD-3, basically I upsample the recordings a few times based on the quality of the recording and I also lower or up the volume depending on recording. So playback is smooth and even, not hot like with the loudness wars.
It is good that you purchased an extra drive. Mine went south before warranty expired and I had it serviced by Bryston, I used it everyday. Now I seldom use it as I am mostly Streaming or using Leawo Blue ray player. Since I can load my collection onto Amazon HD I am listen mainly to Amazon Hd.
The BCD-3 is proof that Redbook CD can sound amazing. So you know it's not the medium but whether or not the recording is compressed that have given CD's a bad rap.