Steve,
Which version of Amarra do you suggest? I currently run Pure Music and although it's good I suspect what you say is true that the Amarra is better.
Jplay and Jriver is the best current combo for PC, however the right version of Amarra on Mac still beats it IMO.
One must be careful of using not only the best playback software, but the best CD ripping software as well, dbpoweramp/Accurate Rip with PC and XLD with Mac.
Here are some more tips (no advertising):
www.empiricalaudio
Which version of Amarra do you suggest? I currently run Pure Music and although it's good I suspect what you say is true that the Amarra is better.