Maybe it is a bad comparison (Active vs Passive bla bla bla..) but apart from stock sub $500 guitar's pickups, I have only owned EMG's 81,89 and TW's which could be considered "premium" pickups. And while I think they sound good for certain styles (mostly metal), the PRS \m/ takes the sound to another level. Dunno if it is the old story about tonewoods on the PRS, etc; but they do sound very balanced and versatile albeit hot. Cleans are great in the split coil positions as well HB, dirties are just great to me for my style.
Ohh, I am also very into modelling guitars (Antares ATG, Boss GP-10, etc..). They include a lot of modeled pickups going from SD, Dimarzio, Fender, Gibson, MusicMan, etc. and although they sound OK, nothing compared with my PRS. Again, it is just modelling and the host guitar a use for this is not very high quality.
I also have just gotten Cycfi's XR (eXtended Range) pickups with a resonant filter and Q. This is another breed of pickups and can achieve basically any sound, these I put them on another level for the variety of sound that can be dialed in.
Note: I am not one of those that are picky or know much about tone, I can just say "The \m/ sound great".