I have been pleasantly surprised by the XT-25 I picked up from Sam Ash online. The intonation was nice right out of the box and it just needed a few tiny turns of the truss rod to get the action low with almost no fret noise. The tone is piano like, but with some tweaks you can get most sounds out if it. It can be deep punchy and clear as a bell.
MAJOR CAVEAT - I strongly recommend buying a Boomerang or other Steinberger strap system. The XT-25 is virtually unplayable with just a regular strap. I coughed up an additional $130 for the Boomerang, and now it plays like a dream. There are some strap extension mods recommended on Talkbass that might work for some. I tried but could not get nearly the pivot or adjust-ability that the Steiny strap systems provide.
The compactness makes air travel easy. I have taken it on 3 flights, and it slips right into the overhead. On a tight stage it gives room to move that a large headstock does not. The tuning system is great - this baby really hold a tune. I might upgrade to EMG's or Barts as the stock pups are ok but not spectacular. Once you get used to it it is really fun to play.
) and I might entertain the idea of swapping out the pickups for it (The V has jazz pickups, so I would have to be careful about the dimensions. Basslines Quater Pounders won't fit unless I get the cutouts enlarged 
). Unlike the Steinbergers, they have an active preamp, so I'm not sure if you can just throw any old pickups into it or not.