From the guys here who own the Emo amps say, Emo would be leading in the pack you mentioned.

I did a head to head between the Emo ERC-1 cd player and the NAD c545, the NAD costing more money. The ERC-1 was better in all aspects except for maybe bass response.

I find the Emo sound sterile though. This is probably not an issue for a power amp as much as a source.