I had a chance to try out the Max for as long as I wanted at my local audio store that had one on stock as a display
I was really tempted to get it, but felt like it wasn’t a massive improvement over my Alpha which I’ve only had for a year.
I used 4.4mm balanced with headphones I was super familiar with. The soundstage is much better, noise floor is reduced, bass and sub-bass are more present. It feels like it’s lifted up the Alpha to a more cleaner sound which is analytical and uncompromising. The Max is much faster in the menus as well. You definitely feel the size and weight decrease in a good way. Personally if I had to choose, I would grab an Alpha on sale (they’re about 50% the price of a Max at my local dealer). If you really had the money and liked the sound, the Max is there. It’s just a super different sound, much like the Cube was to the Alpha.