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Aesthetix IO Eclipse

Hi,

I'm seriously considering this Phono preamp (with the additional line input and volume control), and would like to get in contact with potenial owners of the IO-series from Aesthetix. I believe the IO is what I'm looking for sonically (and I love the design and user experience). But, I'm slightly concerned about earlier reports of noise/hum issues, as well as riability and the practical side of things related to tube life and generated heat.

So....

- Is the IO Eclipse (still) up there among the best on the market?
- Will the possibility of driving a poweramp directly offer any disadvantages, or be as good as or better than a separate preamp of the same caliber?
- Are the tubes worth the expense, effort and potential hassle...?

What I'm looking for is a high degree of naturalness, musicality and flow combined with great dynamics and a large, holographic soundstage.

My system:

Brinkmann Bardo + 10.5 tonearm + Pi-pickup (Analog)
Audio Aero La Fontaine (CD/DAC/Pre)
Karan KA M2000 (Monoblocks)
Sonus Faber Futura (Speakers)
Kubala Sosna Elation (Cables)

Thanks!
128x128sidekick_i
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
By the way, when I was debating about the second power supply, the following it what Jim White told me *he* hears with the addition:
Adding the second supply improves the sound in the following ways:

.. Added space
.. Improved macro dynamics
.. Improved micro dynamics
.. Blacker backround
.. Greater ease to the sound, less strained
While this comment related to the Io Signature, I would expect it to hold true for the Io Eclipse as well.
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lewm
13,018 posts
 
If one chooses the "Io with high level input" option, what is the signal path after the high level input jack on the Io? Is there an actual linestage section built in, or is it just passive? If the latter, then one must consider amplifier input sensitivity (does the CDP or other high level source output enough V to drive the amps, or does it require the added gain of a line stage?) and length of interconnects (if the Io is passive with high level inputs, then one should think about capacitance of the cables and input impedance of the amplifiers as factors that could affect frequency response).

Do you guys know what is the role of the 2nd PS chassis, if one chooses to acquire it? I mean to ask what part of the Io audio circuit is supplied by the second PS?
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
Lewm,

The Io with volume controls has an active stage following the volume controls. It is not passive.

The second PS chassis makes the Io fully dual mono. One PS chassis feeds the left channel and the second feeds the right channel, with no shared PS functionality anywhere. For what you can expect to hear with this fully dual mono option, see the comments from Jim White that I quoted above.
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lewm
13,018 posts
 
All positive answers, in terms of the potential of the Io. I am rather surprised that the 2nd PS makes such a big difference; I would have thought that separate constant current sources and voltage regulators for each channel would be sufficient to max out the performance. Thx.
suteetat
435 posts
 
I have Io Eclipse now for almost a year. It is quiet but
not quite as quiet as Lamm LP2 or Fosgate Signature but
it is definitely not noisy.

My local dealer warned me that with regular use, stocked tubes may last only about a year. So far, I changed out the 4 first stage gain tubes with NOS. The stocked tubes are a little more quiet but sounded a bit lean. If you prefer extended, clear, detailed sound (but in no way analytical), the stocked tubes definitely will give you that. If you need a bit more body and warmth, you will need to look for some NOS. Finding good matched quads 12AX7 with low noise will not be cheap but I was told again by my local dealers that NOS tubes tend to last longer than the stocked tubes. I will have to wait and see if that is true.

I think the unit consumes something liek 400 watts at idle
so lots of ventilation space would be good.
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