Although I bought the 2018 2-LP set last week (the one without the Esher demos), it's only now that I've gotten round to giving it a clean and playing it... and although I'm only on side 2, I think it sounds fantastic. It seems to have retained that slightly gnarly sound that you just don't get on a Steely Dan record but yet, it still sounds crisp and clear so I think Giles got it spot on as far as that cul-de-sac is concerned.
In the end, I didn't plump for the expensive box set as I'm not interested in extras - a CD/BDA only release would have been a different matter. But now that I've heard how good the vinyl is, I think I'd be more inclined to spring for the box set if it drops in price again*. Anyway, in my mind, that's two vinyl hits out of two: the 2017 Sgt. Pepper's vinyl release sounds great as well. Fingers crossed Abbey Road makes it three out of three
* I should add, I wasn't impressed with the 'loudness' of the stereo and multichannel mixes from the Sgt. Pepper's box set, so that was on my mind as well as the price.