Aesthetix Rhea or Manley Steelhead

Yes, I listened to both and the Manley is better in every aspect.

Doug- As our fellow adopted fellow Nutmegger said, "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most!"

I hosted the shootout mentioned by Swampwalker and second his report. The owner of the Rhea put it up for sale the next day and ordered a Doshi Alaap.

In fairness, an Alaap phono stage retails for ~2-3X the Rhea so it should be better and it is... shockingly so.

The Steelhead didn't quite match the Alaap or VAC for harmonic complexity and macro-dynamic punch. (The Alaap is impressively unlimited in the latter regard.) But the Manley was very creditable (did nothing wrong) and enjoyable, especially considering its lower cost. By comparison, the Rhea sounded murky, congested and it had a high noise floor (tube rush).

P.S. the speakers were B&W 803D's.

I have a Manley Steelhead which replaced a SimAudio LP5.3 with PSX5.3 power supply and I prefer the Manley, not only for its sound quality, but its features and ease of use. Quite frankly, if a product is difficult to set up and tune, then it is unlikely to acheive its best performance. The Manley allows front panel adjustment of almost every parameter.

I compared a Steelhead RC and a Rhea Signature in my system and much preferred the Manley for its superior dynamics and drive. The Aesthetix is good but the Manley is the better performer, I found.

I owned a Rhea for three years and enjoyed it very much, except for the tube rush. Recently I upgraded to a Steelhead and it is more coherent, detailed and dynamic. Don't get me wrong the Rhea is no slouch and until recently was the finest tubed phono stage I had owned. The Steelhead is simply a superior piece of gear.

I'd recommend the Manley. We had a shoot out several years ago w those 2 phono stages (actually, a Rhea sig w NOS tubes, I believe) along w Doshi Alaap, VAC Ren MK2 and ZYX Artisan. The general outcome was that the Doshi was clearly the best. The VAC Ren, Manley and ZYX were all close seconds. The ZYX and the Manley were both fed to the line stage of the Doshi; the VAC is full function and so it's line stage made for a variable. All three have different features. Final choice between those 3 very much personal taste and system needs. Rhea as a distant third to all 5 listeners.

Source was a Teres/Triplanar/ZYX Uni. Power amp: Doshi-modified Lectron JH-50 6CA7 push-pull. Speakers B&W 802 (maybe D, can't remember).

I think the retail price on the Manley is quite a bit higher than the Rhea. IMO, it's worth it.