Well, I had a disappointing experience auditioning an ex demo (but 24/96) pair of 5500s. After switching back and forth several times between my old 18 bit 5000s and the much bigger (and much less pretty) 5500, I thought that the 5500s were indeed better overall, but not by much and not on all discs played, and that some of the improvement at the top end might well have been in the more advanced DACS. This was in a largeish room, using a 500 and 518 front end. I wonder if my demo speakers were less than perfect examples of the 5500, because most others I have discussed this with (but not all) have much more positive experiences to report.

michaelh