I am sorry, I am not following you here. I don't own the Caldera, only tried two different units with inconsistent results.

Yes on the second unit I tried at home. 1) The first pair, it only had the stock pads as it was right before the official release and cowhide had not been available yet. 2) The loaner unit came with these pads: - Lambskin - Stock - Lambskin - Thick - Lambskin - Thin -...

Take a pic of the pads for us, may be able to help to see them

The first Caldera I heard, which my friend who kindly bought it at CanJam SoCal was a limited edition wood, sounded a lot better than the second Caldera which was sent around on a mini-tour. I had no idea about the mesh option until the second Caldera came through and had in the case, I was...

Yes, V3 is great, V4 is better, and Stellaris is awesome! An analogy, they are the Porsche 911: Stratus V3: 911 4S Stratus V4: 911 4 GTS Stellaris: 911 Turbo S

As @thehutch mentioned it’s a V4, AN indicates Audio Note, aka V4 as this is the first Stratus to receive the AN OPT

Certainly, look on the back and see if your serial looks like this:

You had already asked me this, and I responded here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dna-stratus-2a3-amplifier-first-impressions.609800/post-18082773

Yes, quite a few with mixed results. I tried it when the Caldera was first launched, then again about a year later and I swear the two Caldera sounded very different from one another. Without offending anyone, the Caldera was a better match than trying to use the Susvara off the Stratus. My DNA...

I have the V4, have heard the V3, Starlett, and Stellaris.

Understood, and no need for you to say sorry, It is only audio gear. Hope you find the answers you’re looking for, whatever they ultimately become. For what it’s worth, I run the Stratus and a 300B amp for separate chains as each amp respond differently, though that is of no interest to you as...

You have a Stratus in house, try the Susvara out with it so you can find out how you like the combo. This is pure theory on my part based on observations; you seem to base your opinions on what others have told you, it comes up often in this the DNA threads. I recall a time where you asked...

My bad, thought I read somewhere that it was. Apologies for derailing the thread around non-DNA related content

R Have you heard the Air Universe? The Woo WA23 Lina is interstage transformer coupled, it’s likely within your price range. My Radu 300B uses interstage transformers, there are options out there. I wouldn’t be fixated on @L0rdGwyn choosing to keep his amp development private, he’s put a lot...

What is behind the focus of an interstage design? If they are rarely made, are you chasing a dragon which you’ll never catch?