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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
oldvinyl
37 posts
 
O_holter -- I initially tried the Purist Audio Design cables for the Io from Albert Porter. They were extremely high quality, well made and very very quiet (well shielded). They were simply out of my price range at that time. I contacted Audience, sent them the cables and had them rewire them with higher purity cables and add heavy duty shielding. It did the trick.

Io outputs sound best in balanced XLR configuration, much quieter than RCA (as expected). I checked with Aesthetix, using balanced input from the cartridge does not have any real advantage.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
o_holter
975 posts
 
Chris -- I sold my Krell FPB600 and bought used Atmasphere MA-1 monoblocs here at A-gon, and got them upgraded at the factory. Although this was quite a change, and I was missing the bass at first (needed burn-in), I have not looked back. I am very happy with the OTL sound, and have only good things to say about Atmasphere and Ralph Karsten. The MA-1s turn out to be a good match with the Io.

Oldvinyl -- I use balanced JPS Superconductor FX cables from the Io to the amps. Not sure if better cables would make any big change. By the way I am now burning in the Io after the upgrade. Very interesting.
lewm
13,019 posts
 
Dear Oldvinyl, I don't know why it was deleted, but I posted yesterday that I cannot understand why Aesthetix, who took the pains to design and develop the fully balanced phono section in the Io, and who charge a great deal of money for the resulting component, would ever have told you that "balanced input from the cartridge has no real advantage". Perhaps you misunderstood their representative or you were talking to a misinformed person. Of course, there ARE advantages, and it would be silly not to avail yourself of same, especially if noise is/was an issue. Make sure you use a true 3-conductor XLR interconnect between the tonearm and Io (one for positive phase, an identical one for negative phase, and a ground wire). I don't think there is anything controversial here, so lets hope that this second try does not get deleted.
oldvinyl
37 posts
 
Lewm - to be more precise, the Io is fully balanced after the input stage. Using RCA or XLR gets the same output, the rest of the amplification is fully balanced. The one advantage of a balanced input would be common mode noise rejection, assuming a fully differential input. My system does not have such noise problems with the Io phono stage. I found that using a well shielded phono cable eliminated any hum or coupled noise.
oldvinyl
37 posts
 
Lewm -- follow up; direct quote from the Aesthetix Io manual (from the Aesthetix web site):
The phono stage contains three main amplification sections and an output buffer section. The first section is a high gain, low noise, zero feedback single ended amplifier composed of two low-noise 12AX7 vacuum tubes. This then feeds a high gain, low noise differential amplifier (two 12AX7 vacuum tubes) which amplifies the signal and produces a complementary minus phase signal. Thus, the unit is balanced from the second amplification section through the output.
So, from this description, there is no advantage to using XLR or a balanced input from the cartridge.
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