Not totally true,
Euphonix handles all of the repairs and they have gads of parts (according to Dave Peck who was originally at Pacific Microsonics), it's just pricey to repair them.
In my opinion the Model 1 is still a great box (we have two) and is way more than just a converter. I did a dac shootout here a few years back between the PM-Model I, Lavrey Gold (at that time DB Tech), Lavry Blue, Prism Dream DA-8, and Apogee 8000. The two faves were the PM and the Lavry Gold.
I have a friend who designs very high-end ($$$) audiophile analog gear and analog circuits for converters. He occassionally comes over to listen to various devices and the PM has always hung in there as an equal or bested some pretty great stuff.
I like the PM for it's multitude of dithers, it's upsampling and downsampling capabilities, the ability to adjust output gain either analog or digitally, and it's ridiculously quiet s/n and thd levels. The cascade (digital insert) mode is very convenient.
I've seen model I's on ebay for $3500 - $4500 and consider this a good buy if you have the ability to swallow an occassional $800 repair bill.
My 2 cents.
Regards,
Brent Lambert
The Kitchen Mastering