Cary AE-3 Mk II

Call Kevin at Upscale Audio since they are the same price point and he sells both. I found him to be very generous with his time.

I haven't heard the MkII, but I had the AE-3 DJH and loved it. You might already know this, but the main difference structurally on the MKII is a second set of outputs, a new power supply design and chassis. Sonically, I don't know the difference. If the sub output is not a deal breaker, the DJH is direct coupled, so it has pretty solid low end on its own.

Either way, ditch the stock tubes. I have all Cary/AES products and I found that tube rolling greatly improves the sound.

I own and love the DJH. I haven't heard the MkII, but this is what Kevin at Upscale had to say about the differences:

With the regular AE-3 and now AE-3 Mk 2 the bass can be a little bloated depending on the application, but the AE-3 DJH’s front end topology is slightly different. It is direct-coupled, meaning there are no coupling caps between the input and output stages, which makes the preamp much more dynamic. I think it has incredible bass, great imaging, airy highs.

His comments confirm what I heard with the standard AE-3.

Looking through your old forums, I see you own (or owned) the DJH. In my opinion, I honestly don't think the MkII will be an upgrade. You might want to call Kevin to get more info, but I encourage you to have a clear idea of what you're looking for and what you want to change in your system.

I had the DJH pre and thought it was a articulate and fine sounding unit because of the elimination of output caps and oil caps on the inside. The MkII version has the new upscale transformers used in the latest Cary gear, but if I remember correctly it has a capacitor coupled output. Speaking to Cary they said the DJH may have an edge as far as transparency. The balance and soundstage may excel in the MkII though. Its a toss-up.

I didn't like the DJH's 20 db output gain as it allowed me to only use the first 1/3 of the volume pot before I was pushing the amp to clipping.
I now own the Super Amp MkII and will be adding the newest MkII. I think once it is in your system you will be happy with either. I like the 2 pre outs for bi-amping or adding a sub.