Thanks for commenting. I do enjoy the sounds it produces and I probably spend 2 to 4 hours a day listening to it. It's that pleasurable.
Since I still occasionally listen to vinyl, I need a separate preamp and I would probably miss the qualities that a valve front end gives me. I've not tried because I am still enamored of the current set up. As I become bored and continue my tweaking, I may well but at this point I'm not sure I want to since the thought of swapping cables every time I wanted to listen to vinyl is not appealing. If I were to go without a separate pre-, and still wanted an analog input, I would probably do the MPD – 8AI.
I recognize it's all a matter of taste, but the Playback Designs unit has me unwilling to get off my butt and change records.