I can compare the flightcase I tested to the ARCO Hugo I tested- that is essentially an (more expensive) overhauled handbuilt (by J. Lundgaard) version of the CADaudio amp (he designed that one too).
The ARCO is a phenomenal amp. It's unmatched in terms of portability- the PJB is almost twice its size. Its sound totally belies its size, very warm and fat, very powerful (it's 500W vs. 150 with the PJB), and totally neutral and real. A downside was to me the trim of the high freq control, as it was more in the area of high mids and not so much in the "sparkle" range. So the ultra-beautiful sparkle was not to be found in the ARCO. Which is not a serious problem, it's in fact very pu-related. Its craftmanship is by far the best I've seen yet, with wired pots (not printed) and socketed OPs, so it's super servicable. And it's hand-built to order, so if you want f.ex. other frequencies in the eq, that can be done.
THE PJB is less than half the price (although the CAD is less expensive and maybe in the same range as the PJB), bigger and heavier but far from being clumsy. It's also very neutral sounding, although with a schertler dyn-b, I was forced to cut a little of the low mids out so it was cleaner. BUT the high freq dials combined with the very beautiful sounding speakers added a very addictive natural clean sparkle to the sound that I have not found in any other amp. It's extremely cool at lower volumes but lacks the headroom the ARCO has, so in higher volume areas it sounds forced (it takes considerably more to make the arco sound forced). That can be solved by using the Super Flightcase, I believe. -Anyways, we're speaking of quite some serious volume for such a relatively small unit (although the ARCO was considerably more of a stunner even). Craftsmanship is high industry standard. DOWNSIDE- it's not easily expandable, as it lacks a speaker out.
Taking into consideration that there is the more powerful Super Flightcase, and the fact that the ARCO is an expensive amp, and I can't shell out 1800 euros just now, I'd go for the PJB. The ARCO is phenomenal but the PJB is no less so. It's way bulkier but still an easy schlep. It has this extra champagne-sparkle that I couldn't get out of the ARCO (or any other amp).
That all doesn't help with comparing it to the CADaudio. But it can give you a basic idea, since the ARCO and the CADaudio are somehow related (J. Lundgaard split with CADaudio, there's not much friendship involved, I won't join the mudfight. It's Jesper's design, so you do your math). I hope it helped a little.
Best
Sidecar
