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Very late reply but I am demo-ing the Aesthetix Romulus in my system now. I am no techie and know nothing about the circuit topologies of either unit, but the Romulus is good enough that I would seriously consider replacing my current CD player (AMR CD-77) with it. Both players use tubes in some configuration. Both have a USB input, along with SE and balanced connections. That fact that the Romulus is less expensive is a bonus, I guess. The Pandora is about $1000 cheaper than the Romulus if you have no silver discs to spin. What changed: mostly the width and depth of the soundstage well beyond the one presented by the AMR-77 and then the Romulus also solidified the placement of instruments within the soundstage on even so-so recordings. I hate to sound cliche and use the descriptor "holographic" but that's really the difference it brought. It wasn't subtle. My definitely non-audio girlfriend noticed (and approved) immediately. It did need a good 40-50 hours to break in and stabilize, but that's hardly in Audio Research territory for break in. For reference: my 2 channel system is Maggie 3.7s with an ASR Emitter 2 Blue amp, wired with Nordost Frey cables throughout, and an iMac playing Pure Music software so it's a fast and fairly neutral system, but it's definitely not a "theater in the round" type . The Romulus added that extra dimension to this, without losing the other positives in the system. It just seems very synergistic with this set up and my room. I have not heard the Debussy, other than in a local showroom, and while it is undoubtedly a high end piece, I was very unfamiliar with the surrounding equipment (mostly Goldmund electronics and Kharma speakers) and could not determine how it would fit in my system. To be honest, I was not wowed by the Romulus in the showroom either, so there is obviously great value in auditioning in your system if possible. Best of luck.

Mai Tais are the drink of choice there, and rum is the indigenous liquor, so you should be fine. Oh, you mean, should you smuggle some out...no, you should drink it all there.