I bought a Raijin back in 2003 and have been using it ever since. The AV out is pretty normal, but RGB quality is absolutely fantastic. Build quality is great too, but it now has some scuffs on the metalic surface from use...plastic is probably more resistent to small scuffs caused by rings, for example.
Rapid-fire options are great and pretty customizable to avoid provoking glitches. Since I don't own a candy cab (wish I did!) I use it frequently for fighters, since I'm not used to play those on my stand up cab. The button setup and quality is just great.
About how it compares with the Pana, I'm not sure since I bought it long ago. I remember considering that one and the Vega (which had an amazing SF2 look), but IIRC I ended up picking this one not because of its aesthetics, but because of reasonable size and build quality. It was also slightly more cheaper than the other Sigma solutions (can't remember the name, but it had controllers detached).
Long story short, still working great after the years (with lots of hours of play) and never had a technical problem.