Border Patrol Se-i vs Audio Mirror Troubadour MK III

that golden vocal hue

@mdrone 

It would be best if you would audition both, to find out.

Time to revive an old thread as my DAC journey continues.

Ultimately went with a Bricasti DAC.  Was at an audio store looking for something else but happened to hear the Lab 12 DAC and was wowed by the "golden tone" of vocals.  Set me back into the tube DAC search which I thought I had exited.  The Lab 12 is too big for my cabinet, but the Audio Mirror or Border Patrol both would fit easily.

Question: Do either ( or both ) offer that golden vocal hue?

mesch mentions an important distinction on the bp... the choice of putting a tube in the power supply stage and NOT in the output stage always struck me as an odd design choice

also -- other very natural sounding dacs in the same league (and cost) to what have been mentioned are:

metrum jade/amethyst/octave
mhdt (various models) all very lovely
ayre codex
van alstine tube dacs

Should also note, the BP has a tube buffer, the Tubadour a tube output stage.

I recommend the AM Tubadour III. I own one and can say that it made a significant upgrade in my system. Resolution, soundstage and 'air' around notes.

@mpomerantz - I would be very interested in hearing the difference between your new dac and the Heed. I own a Heed and find it anything but harsh or lightweight. That said, in my system, I was able to improve the sound considerably using a Vibrapod 3 under each foot. Really brought out more richness of tone, IMO. I replaced the Vibrapods with a Symposium Stealth Shelf $275) and found it rendered deeper and more pitch accurate bass as well as more harmonic density. But do try the Vibrapods. And let us know about your new dac when you get it. Enjoy.

One nice thing about the Tubadour is if you like the sound you can make a significant upgrade to SE down the road for not much $. 

tubadour 3 se

Which model of the Audio Mirror  do you have?

i have had both -- still have the tubador, sold the bp

to me, while both sound nice, the tubador is more analog-sounding, more relaxed and full sounding... felt the bp still had a teeny bit of unwanted digital edge, and did not portray soundstaging/imaging as convincingly in comparison