There are quite a few threads discussing the Border Patrol DAC SE. For those who have owned/heard the BP DAC SE and have upgraded/heard the BP DAC SEi version, are you happy with the upgrade? How would you characterize the audible difference?
I own an original Border Patrol SE. I talked to Gary Dews about the upgraded model. He said it sounded more organic and less hi fi. I’d also like to know if anyone has heard the upgraded version.
I've got the SEi version. It was upgraded by Gary from the original. The difference in the sound is as Gary states: it's warmer and even more natural-sounding. After listening for a while my feeling was that the cap upgrades got the sound closer to what I hear from vinyl playback. Not as good but definitely in the same neighborhood. An absolutely worthwhile upgrade. Gary doesn't disappoint. No drama, no nonsense. Just great service and honesty.
Is the SEi version what he is selling now (i.e., the latest version)? I ask, because I was thinking about taking the plunge on one of his DACs in the next month or so.
I believe there are two versions, the SE and SEi; the latter being a jupiter caps upgrade. Let us know if you learn anything new about the SEi. And yes, I agree Gary is really a good guy; always very responsive.
Gary's response to my question about different capacitors:
DAC
SE 2017- March 2019 has Uptone Audio polypropylene caps. DAC
SE from March 2019 to May 2019 has Jensen paper in oil. DAC
SE-i from May 2019-December 2019 has Jensen. DAC
SE-i 2020 has Jupiter. The
Uptone/Jensen time windows are approximate. There was some overlap depending on
availability.
So it looks like DAC SE-i can have Jensen caps or Jupiter caps, depending when a DAC was made.
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