That’s a good way to look at it, because normally they cap the trade in at ~30% off MSRP for the product you’re buying.
I basically traded in my Mk I and my DMP for $12,000 credit against the Mk II and a pair of FR-30’s, so I got the full retail price for both pieces, and it allowed me to max out the trade-in allowance for the speakers.
The PS Audio trade-in program is, in my opinion, almost too good to be true… 
I have a PSA Nuwave Phono Converter (NPC) that can convert my Phono signal into I2S. I’m considering hooking that up to the MK2 when I get it back from PSA.
When I hooked the NPC up to the DS Sr. that I have, I could not tell the difference between a straight analog connection from the NPC to my preamp and the I2S through the DS Sr. to the preamp. So to remove complexity, I disconnected the I2S and went pure analog.
Considering that the MK2 sounds so much better than the DS Sr., I will try the experiment again. Has anyone in the thread tried this, and if so, what was your experience with the sound quality?
That genuinely sounds like really fun tinkering, for sure! Why wouldn’t you — just for fun and to explore.
I’m in Australia, PS Audio should consider the same tradein out of US 
Let me thank @aaronm and Travis from PS Audio that provided to me all the clarifications needed about the “italian” units, along to the importer MPI, who assisted me after a long long night exchanging emails between the two sides of the world.
It seems that soon I’ll be coincidentally a non US beta tester for a while, it’s a privilege for me, awaiting to receive a reworked unit later, as soon as possible.
Must have been worrying thinking about paying for a beta and how that might run, when you thought you had the production version. Fantastic to hear of a good outcome!
Are you becoming a Beta tester just now? In the US we have been testing them for over one month and were told the production units will be available like right now. So, I am a bit puzzled that you are only entering Beta program this late.
But you should be getting the unit problem free with the latest FW. Mine took a while to break in. I actually have no idea because PSA had mine for a couple of week and I assume it was in use there most of the time.
aaronm, I would love to have someone explain to me why my unit would stop playing after about 45 minutes of use and what was done to correct this problem?
The Beta version is the Same as the production version. Nothing to worry about at all!
It is highly unlikely that your unit was being used most of the time. It is not the only one they were working on.
Make sense! That explains why I still experienced a long break in after it came back.
I am one of the first Beta testers, and have had the MKII for over three weeks. I have had zero problems as shipped with the original 173 firmware. For testing, I kept everything the same in my system. Two sources: PST via I2S and Auralic Aries G1 via USB, Audio Envy power cord. Apples to apples, MKII smokes MKI in every way. Most noticeable to me is the much expanded soundstage, separation between instruments, improved clarity and decay that just goes on and on. Biggest improvement IMHO is the USB implementation. Qobuz and files stored on local SSD sound significantly better. If it didn’t get any better than this I would be a happy camper. MKI has been shipped back.
New screen is just fine as it matches the PST. No, I cannot read anything other than the volume form the listening chair, but I don’t have to. I selected the source so I know what it is. I got up and checked the display a few times early on, and it was always what it should have been.
Just last night I updated the main firmware and 179 Antero. Both went smoothly with no issues. Didn’t have long to listen, but Antero sounded a little bright at first to me, but settled down towards the end of the session. Running it in overnight and will listen again and report back.
I have learned as much about human behavior on this forum as I have about the MKII. I can see why the majority of people reply back to PS Audio directly. How many times do the same questions need to be answered? And I am glad the tweakers got their own sandbox.
I don’t, and never have considered myself an audiophile. I just like to listen to music with the best equipment I am willing to buy. With my initial experience and the mountain tops to follow, I believe I have and end game component in the MKII. Thank you Ted and all at PS Audio.
Perhaps there’s a nuance you are missing. If questions, no matter how many times answered, are answered here on the forum, that’s less work for PSA. Not that PSA wouldn’t answer, that’s not what I am trying to convey. It’s simply less work. In some cases the forum is a twenty-four hour help desk. PSA is not. Also with some issues, multiple questions need to be asked to tease out the exact circumstances of the issue. That teasing often happens very quickly on the forum.
Point taken! Thanks.
Eh Donald I’m becoming a beta tester even if I’m not a beta tester. I wanted to be a beta tester one month ago but I wasn’t able. Now I don’t want to be a beta tester anymore but I’m becoming one.
Audiophile world is a crazy place to live, isn’t it?
Now it does make sense 
Enjoy the journey and do try those tweaks because they make even more differences with MK2.
Guess what!
I’m wondering why all these things always happen!
The good news is that since next week I’ll be in the privileged moment of lots of days at home, finally. The ideal time to test both the new toys. I’ll keep you informed.
Ski’s or snowboard?
What a nice holiday week for you! I assume you will start with Statement first to compare with Mk3/USB combo, and later MK2 to compare with DS.
It could be tricky to decide which makes more sonic impact when adding two new gears to the system at almost the same time. but that’s a very nice problem to have.
Typical food and wine in some cabins is my winter sport on the ski slopes!