Aesthetix Io-Reliability Problems???

Kudos and thanks to Albertporter for sharing his expert knowledge with us

as a previously solid-state only guy with no tube experience, the aesthetix io i have owned for one year has been surprisingly perfect. i expected some grief but have had none. the performance to me has been beyond what i thought was possible and exceeded the raves i had heard. i also have a marantz sa-1 sacd player and the io is degrees better.

after reading this thread i am excited at the prospects of improving the performance but am still alittle timid about getting into tube rolling. when i purchased the io i also bought a second set of tubes for a very reasonable $275 and had planned to just wait until the first set wore out.

the io is on about 15 hours a week; so about 800 hours so far. it is interesting to hear about opinions on leaving the io on 24/7. due to room size and lack of air conditioning not an option for me. also the 2nd power supply would great but again no space.

anyway, the io has been absolutly perfect and i believe a great value for the dollar.

hope this helps.

mike lavigne

Albert: I'm awed by your generosity re: the above IO post. I do not wish to drain any more of your time, either. One question: I'm curious to know what were the sound benefits in adding the 2nd power supply to the IO and Callisto? Were they very significant? Remember most of us have Mickey-Mouse gear compared to you (no offence to others intended!), so I wonder whether the power modifications would be that significant on lower-priced gear (yeah, I'm aware that bucks do not a great system make).

I have owned and marveled at my Aesthetix Io for two years now. It is, IMO, a supreme phono stage. One month after I received it, it did go down and was repaired and turned around by Jim White very quickly. It has performed flawlessly since with performance that is very, very satisfying. I installed NOS tubes (Mazda and Tungsram 12AX7's, Amperex PQ 6922's, Sylvania VT-231's, Sylvania 5932's in place of EL34's) soon after I first received the Io and, with the exception of the 5932's, the original NOS tubes remain in place and still sound mighty fine. I was told by Jim White that the EL34's and 6922's would need replacing a bit more often. Other than that, the tubes should last a reasonable amount of time.

I too have heard the talk regarding the Io and reliability problems. I sympathize with anyone not able to enjoy the remarkable performance of the Io due to reliability. I happen to be one of the lucky ones to have an Io that has been little trouble and a whole lotta fun. I'm certain that there are many others that have had similar experiences with the Io. If there are indeed reliability problems generally with the Io, perhaps Jim White should be given a chance to correct them and perhaps in the process improve an already stunning performer. There's always a bit of sweat involved with the use of tubed gear, the Io is no exception. Thankfully, the rewards can be great as is the case with the Aesthetix Io.

Regards,

Joe Mendez

I have had the Io for about a year and quite simply it is a stunning piece of equipment. I have had one problem with my unit and that is, it blows a fuse about every month or two. It is either the right or left fuse inside the power supply. I can find no apparent reason for this (line surges etc.). The Io sounds great but it is annoying to have to keep changing fuses. I have taken to leaving the top off the power supply to make it easier. If anyone has an explanation for this please let me know. Also, I am considering a tube swap for the stock tubes. I am pretty happy with my system but if I could ask for anything it would be a bit more magic and presence in the mid-range and a touch more sweetness in the highs (violins) without losing any air or detail. Any thoughts???