DAC Choices - $5,000 to $7,000

@mitch2 

A few weeks ago, I brought my EVO to a fellow Agon members home so he could hear it in his system.  He also uses a DX L3 and @grannyring 's "double-smoked" USB cable.   Th EVO sounded *excellent* in this member's system - which is very nice:  Berning tube amp, vintage Tanoy speakers with super tweeters.  

In my own system, I use SPDIF via AES - currently using a 2 meter Black Cat Digit 110.  I'm extremely happy with it.  Previous SPDIF cable was a Sablon.

Regarding IC's with the EVO, I recently switched  from Audience AU24 SX to Cerious Graphene Matrix.  The Cerious cables are significantly better than the Audience in my system.

In my experience, the EVO is very revealing of cable changes - IC's maybe a bit more than digital.

Congrats on your Mojo EVO.

@mitch2 - Wondering if you sealed the deal and if you went for the older aluminum chassis, (which is being offered with a 10% discount off the entire purchase), or if you went for the new ferrous chassis (no discount offered)?

As for me, I have owned a balanced v.3 for the past two years and I am about to trade it in for a new B4B21. As you might know, the "21" is the new model, and the price of the "21" is close to what a 2020 EVO Pro sold for. I was going to buy the base 2020 B4B model, but the good trade in value he gave me for my balanced v.3 helped nudge me to the "21" model, as did the 10% discount on the total price that Benjamin was offering for agreeing to build my dac in the discontinued aluminum chassis. He described the sound differences between the two chassis types as subtle at best, so it made sense to save some of my money where I could.

I passed on the ferrous chassis, but I am going to fork out the big bucks so I can get the "21" circuit boards. I was not expecting the new circuit boards to be offered to me - as I stated I was intending to buy a base 2020 B2B model - but it made sense to pay more for the circuit boards as it will allow for capacitor upgrades in the future. Apparently, it is very hard if not impossible to upgrade caps with the older, more fragile, circuit boards. With the new boards, Benjamin’s next move is to experiment with capacitors. I am really looking forward to his listening impressions.

Mitch, any idea what your V3 had in it ?  Hammond vs. Lundahl, other upgrades, etc.; was the balanced version of the V3 somehow different than the current EVO model with balanced outputs?    To Thaluza's post, it's funny to think in a few years when people are selling these here it will be like Audio Note speakers...  Selling a Mojo Mystique B4B21 Fe Chassis with Lundahl in the Analogue stage, upgraded SPDIF, non-ceramic boards, etc., etc.  I think it's great, shows a designer never resting on their laurels. 

@thaluza - It sounds like we are getting pretty much the same thing and the same deal.  I did not want to add a bunch more upgrade options since there are several of the former 2020 model upgrades that come stock with the 2021 model, but I am adding the Class A output stage upgrade.  I believe I would like the look of the new chassis as Benjamin described it to me but, given the option, I appreciate that I can get the price break by using the 2020 chassis.  The ferrous chassis will provide better shielding from EMI fields that can result from other components which are located in close proximity or stacked on top but if that is not an issue then the aluminum chassis should work just as well and may provide a better resonance characteristic.
@jimmy2615  - My balanced V3 has Hammond chokes and no upgrades that I am aware of.  However, it sounds wonderful and so it was a hard decision to upgrade from that.  It will be a great deal for somebody who wants most of the EVO sound at half the price.  I am hoping the EVO B4B21 offers sonic improvements in the range of 10 to 20 percent over the V3 and then I will also have the benefits of better boards and modularity to allow for easier future upgrades, such as the cap upgrades.  The S/PDIF input is also supposed to be a significant improvement as is the grounding scheme and a few other features.

Thanks Mitch.  It will be interesting to see what you think of the upgraded chokes and SPDIF upgrades.  I have a B4B on order also.  Like you I wanted to try before committing to the expense of the Evo; in my case I tried a V2 to see if I could glean what the general character or house sound, if you will, was of the Mojo DACs.  Even with the simpler product I really enjoyed the overall presentation.  Musical flow, tone, overall balance were very much to my liking.