Aesthetix Calypso VS ARC Reference 3

Ckoffend, which tubes do you use?
which tubes have you tried?

I have heard both, and I own the ARC Ref 3. The Calypso is a very good preamp, and a great bargain for the price. IMHO the ARC Ref 3 betters it in a couple of ways. The biggest is in quietness. The Ref 3 is one of the quietest preamps I've ever heard, tube or SS. The Ref 3 also has a bit more refinement or air in the high's and slightly better definition in the bass. The midrange is about equal with some good tubes in the Calypso, which is more prone to tube rolling.

Is the Ref 3 twice as good? No. The law of diminishing returns is in effect. Only you can determine if the price difference is worth it to you.

Cheers,
John

I have owned the Calypso, but could not warm up to it. That combined with noise issues had me send it back. I get to hear the Ref.3 very often and ever since my friend added it to his system, I have really liked it. I would not put them in the same league at all.

Is the Ref 3 twice as good? No. The law of diminishing returns is in effect.

I have not heard the Ref3 but I'm very eager to compare it to the Aria WV. However I heard a Calypso with premium tubes directly against the Callisto Sig. several times and it was not even close....not even close! The Callisto was way beyond twice as good as the Calypso because of the Callisto's ability to portray space, body of instruments and to carry the sound far beyond the edges of the speakers. And the Calypso here was dead quiet. Tonality is very very close but the Callisto digs a bit deeper in the bottom octave as well.

In many shootouts I find pros and cons and subtle refinements between two components. But that is not the case between these two Aesthetix line stages. And I truly cannot imagine such a similarity between the Ref3 and the Calypso. If these two pieces are truly that close then I cannot understand what's with all the praise over the Ref3.

I just gotta hear the Ref3 myself I guess. Or should I wait for the Ref5?

John

05-28-08: Jafox

The Callisto was way beyond twice as good as the Calypso because of the Callisto's ability to portray space, body of instruments and to carry the sound far beyond the edges of the speakers.

I guess it all depends on opinions of what "twice as good" means. IMHO, as with most things in audio, you pay 100% more (twice as much) for that extra 5-10% improvement (law of diminishing returns). I feel that if item A is way beyond twice as good as item B, item B must be broken. I don't feel that once you're in the high end, that anything KILLS anything else, I call that salesman speak.

That said John, you haven't heard the ARC Ref 3, and I haven't heard the Callisto. I VERY highly doubt that I would believe it was twice as good though, let alone way beyond twice as good, just from my previous 30 years in the hobby, and what twice as good means to me.

Cheers,
John