I see everyone's points. Thanks guys. Lets close this discussion. To recap:

- Playmaker works best wired, not wireless because of 2.4 ghz. For those with the router a distance from the PM, use a wifi extender and wire it.

- Essence mk2 seems to be the best alternative

In our case:

1.  The Mac works about 1/2 the time with the Playmaker

2.  The Mac is latest generation with latest software

3.  The wireless router is Cisco and it sits 5 metres away from the Playmaker

I still think the Playmaker is a substandard product.

In our case:

1.  The Mac works about 1/2 the time with the Playmaker

2.  The Mac is latest generation with latest software

3.  The wireless router is Cisco and it sits 5 metres away from the Playmaker

I still think the Playmaker is a substandard product.

 I think you are right. Sadly, the price point, size and compatibility were all great features. They just could not get it to work reliably over a period of time. The only success I've had with mine is that I literally plug it directly into the router so that the wireless defects don't interrupt the performance.     The sound is really superior, especially to the Apple airport express. When it works, it's wonderful.   The essence is so expensive that it isn't really the right alternative.   In a way, this is exactly what happen with Beolit 12, too. Wonderful product, but they couldn't get it to work reliably.  So many bugs; week hinge on the so many bugs; week hinge on the rear door; very poor wi-fi; power plug poorly mounted so it broke loose from the chassis. All of these things could have and should have been solved in the testing phase. Instead, they rushed the product to market and everyone that bought one wound up having to deal with it. Not a good example.  Beolit 15 is actually much better. But it took quite a while and a lot of it iterations  before they worked out the bugs with that product, and only because of the new software does it avoid being so bassy that it's unpleasant to listen to. 

Playmaker will work in many cases, in some environments there is just too much interference from other networks or wireless devices. Attaching a bridge and use 5ghz or connect straight to router helps. This has nothing todo with distance to router.

Note that apple delayed the chipset for 3rd party vendors with 5ghz wifi which can improve throughput in some instances, so all devices supporting airplay were actually limited to the sometimes tricky 2.4 ghz wifi. If your playmaker didn't work, chances are other airplay devices didn't either. For me, nothing worked, I live in a condomand hadve 25 or more wifi networks around me.

A9 was the first device that had an improved chipset and when released it was one of the first airplay speaker supporting 5ghz.

so i think we have to give b&o a break here.