Aesthetix IO Eclipse

As for reliability, I’ve owned both a Rhea and IO Sig for over a year and have had zero issues with them. Concerning noise, I listen near field and have a fairly sensitive amp and only get a slight hiss with nothing playing using 74db of gain. I have found that both IO and Rhea are sensitive not only to tubes as others have pointed but also to cabling (phono, IC & power). Shielded cables are a must along with careful dressing. Albert Porter had Purist make a custom umbilical that he said help quite things down a bit. I think he still may market this.

I fall into the NOS camp for tubes. They are clearly better in my system and to my ears.

I plan on taking the road that LinnLP12 took when it comes time to upgrade. From what I can tell, the Eclipse looks like it was only a cap upgrade with a new chassis. I’m not impressed by the TRT Stealth caps in the Eclipse. I seriously doubt they are Teflon as they are the same size physically as the DynamiCaps they replaced. There are too many interesting options available not to have a bit of fun with this. Then there is the cost issue with the Eclipse versus the Signature. I think the cartridge loading and shunt resistors also look like low hanging fruit. I have Vishay TX2572’s in house for the cartridge loading position but haven’t gotten around to getting those installed.

You will not regret changing the caps (unless you choose the wrong cap :-). Everyone has their flavor of caps, I went through a lot of them for many many year. I would suggest you pick one that you know the after break in sound characteristics. Its an incredibly lot of work (understatement) but the effort will be rewarded. I dont change resistors or anything like that as I have made sound worse doing that. Some components are better than others, upgrade is just a term for "I want something new" :-). But the IO is what I consider really one of those special pieces. I did listen to it for a long time through a mod squad line drive passive and enjoyed it. Eventually went to an audio research Ref 3. The change was significant to my ears, therefore, i chose not to upgrade with the volume controls. For this reason, I agree with a comment that I beleive Albert Porter and some other person made online, go for the unit without volume controls and put the difference elsewhere.

Well, personally, I'm not very interested in turning a high end investment into a DIY-project. I prefer to put my trust in Jim White (Aesthetix :)

I disagree with Linnlp12 regarding the volume controls. Unless you already have a *very* good preamp, I see little reason to cash out for the Io unless it has volume and the extra line input. That means if functions as a preamp. With a DAC connected to the line input, you can have several sources connected to the DAC, and switch between them on the DAC. This way you can do without a separate preamp. Several users have reported that the direct link from the Io to the amp(s) sounds great. This is my experience also, not least from the extra input, which seems to have even lower distortion than the riaa/phono input.

Whoever had the Io Sig. and then sold it, def. is an audiophile. The Io is one of the best phono stages out there. Its imaging, texture, and dynamics are first rate. If you love chamber classical and jazz quartets you are in for a real treat. It is a music lovers dream. You still need great table, arm, and cartridge properly set up to get its maximum potential.