@Branislav
That’s why I took your advice and added "SE Upgrade:" in bold letters in front of each feature that was improved over the entry-level X in the X SE.
And that’s why I added the "Optional:" in bold letters in front of features in the X and X SE which are optional.
Good suggestion for us to make it easier for people to see those differences at a glance Branislav. I plan on continuing with that format on future product pages.
As for your B4B vs X question, that’s a good one. .
I did clearly state in the product description even the entry-level X sounds better than the EVO Basic and that the that the X doesn’t sound quite as good as the EVO Pro.
But the B4B is one of those more complex "depends on" situations that I wasn’t sure how to express on our website.
The big "depends" is which Lundhal chokes are in the analog power supplies.
Of course the second factor is the S/PDIF upgrade, which doesn’t help the over 80% of our customers who only use the USB input, or those who purchase the entry-level X without the S/PDIF upgrade.
And a third factor has to do with which verion of the EVO B4B we were comparing to since there were originally different inputs, outputs, wiring, and shielding options.
The EVO B4B has the same Lundahl ferrous core chokes as the entry-level X, but the EVO B4B has all choke input power supplies for the three digital supplies as well as the two analog supplies. So the EVO B4B would sound better unless you were using the upgraded S/PDIF inputs, which are optional on the X version and standard on the X SE version, and then the entry-level X would sound better.
If you get the Amorphous core choke upgrade in your X or have an X SE and use the USB input it would also sound better than the EVO B4B and cost about $1K-$2K less. But the X realy isn’t upgradeable like the EVO B4B, and the EVO B4B has a much nicer chassis, so those are considerations that offset the value the X’s sonic performance.
The X SE comes with amorphous core chokes in the analog supplies, so it would sound better than an EVO B4B, unless you got the amorphous core choke upgrade option on the EVO B4B. Then we’re back to the are you using S/PDIF or USB input scenario.
Now let’s really mix things up: from 2019 to 2020 we made several different versions of the EVO B4B with different output stages, input stages, wiring, and shielding. I would say even the entry-level X would sound better than some of those EVO B4Bs because they didn’t have the same class A output stage. But if the EVO B4B had the class A output stage upgrade option then you’re back to what I wrote above.
See what I’m up against Branislav?
How would you suggest I explain such a complex set of scenarios on my website?
Sort of seems more like the kind of thing a person might ask on a forum and hope to get a response from people who owned the products or from the company.
But I am open to any suggestions any of you might have about how to explain complex scenarios like that on our website.