RIP CaseLabs - What are your best alternatives?

[RanceJustice]

Hello everyone. Many of you are likely aware that CaseLabs shut down earlier this year which was quite unfortunate, as they have become one of my favorite manufacturers in recent years. I am planning to rebuild my home server machine and as such give it a proper chassis; prior to its closing my plan was to likely purchase another CaseLabs chassis and then move my server into the Mercury S8 , but I am going to need an alternative.

Thus, I ask the community what manufacturers that are of a similar "tier" to CaseLabs are available? Some of the things I liked about CaseLabs included high quality materials (such as full aluminum) the absolute modular nature of the cases which allowed them to be fully disassembled, massive configuration options, near endlessly supported component availability (including core case parts, optional accessories, and upgrades; new features and tech from tempered glass to RGB luminous panels, fan filters etc), American fabrication and material sourcing when possible, and overall being high quality top to bottom.

CaseLabs used to have higher-priced cases but I figured with all that went into them (including local manufacture) and the entire ethos of the company/product, it was worthwhile. However, I noticed in the past several years that "off the shelf" mass market manufacturers are asking for prices seeming exorbitant and are more suited to niche, boutique operations like CL. This poses a number of questions...

First, which boutique/niche high quality case manufacturers are preferable and/or comparable to CaseLabs? Thus far I've found...

Mountain Mods - Another with long history and has some similarities to CaseLabs in that certain cases of theirs are "big, customizable boxes". It seemed like CaseLabs offered newer/luxury features and evolved a bit more, but I may be not giving MM enough credit.

XForma / Mod-One - ModOne sells high end sleeving supplies (and if I recall is owned by a former CaseLabs employee or friend) but is the sole vendor (in the US?) for the XFORMA MBX MK2 case. The MBX MK2 is one hell of a case, focusing both on aesthetics and features, custom and high end all the way (they made the really neat Luminous Panel that was used in CaseLabs last high end cases as an option). The price is significant to say the least (I believe the base model is around $1200?) and the accessories are pricey as well, so if I go this way I really want to know it will be worth it, supported/updated for years to come

Hydra PC Desk Case - The Hydra Desk seems to be a niche product out of Italy and is certainly in the running for a modern "desk case" with few competitors of similar quality.

Boutique SFF cases - I know there are a few small form factor performance cases out there, existing and on the docket. The NCase M1 and those from SFFLab are just a few I can remember.

Any others?

Next, I am curious about the higher end of the "mainstream" manufacturers. The idea of a mainstream case costing $400+ seemed insane for quite awhile but I notice there is a new high end these days. My initial reaction is that compared to boutique manufacturers it may not be worth it (built overseas, so the funding isn't going into US or EU fabrication etc) but perhaps thats not entirely fair, if they're really a significant advance. However, I am concerned they may not have CaseLabs style features or longevity as I listed above Those I see as examples of this trend are..

Corsair Obsidian 1000D - The $500 king of the Obsidian lineup is all tempered glass and lots of potentially neat features, but I wonder how it stacks up to others in its price range. Also, I hear confilcting reports if it comes with all those RGB MagLev fans it is shown using - for this kind of budget it would be nice to have those included! If its as good as claimed, it will be a return to form for the top end super-towers of the Obsidian lineup.

Phanteks Enthoo Elite - A full $900 case, the Enthoo Elite does seem to offer style and features that one should expect of a case at this price; perhaps amongst many that can be asked of any major manufacturer? I am a little disappointed that only the externals are aluminum though as it seems at this price, the chassis and internals should not be anything else. Likewise, the lack of a removable main motherboard tray seems disappointing at this level.

Lian Li DK-05 Desk Case - Lian Li has long been one of those that offered aluminum cases and their DK-05 is their latest desk case and probably the top I've found for a non-boutique, modern availability desk case.

Lian Li PC-011 and PC-V3000 - Both of these are similarly high end, modern enclosures with a more traditional PC case form factor as opposed to the prior mentioned desk.

Do you feel these kind of cases are worth it? Any others to add to this category?

Thanks everyone.