Cary AE-3 Mk II

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.

I forgot to address you last question. All AE products use point to point wiring.

I haven't heard the DJH, but I have the MKII and I like it very much. Stock tubes and all. I find it to be transparent enough to satisfy, and the bass to be good feeding a SS Monarchy amp with quick cables.

I get great musical enjoyment from it and haven't felt a desire to roll tubes and chance messing up a good thing.

Ssglx,
When I had the DJH pre I tried other tubes, but found the stock tubes best when driving a Pass Labs Aleph 30 'class A' amp, like your 'class A' Monarchy amp. I can't wait to be able to afford the MkII pre and build my tube system up again.