Rhea Noise

Xagwell,
I see now you're talking senses!
PH-3 has J-Fet input stage and fixed gain ~54dB
Never compared them neither heard or used Rhea but valuewise and qualitywise AudioResearch is way to go.
More expencive Reference very and very often drives some folks back to PH3 for the same reason as you describe with Rhea.
Hence, if you want more gain than PH3 or let's say >50dB, I would advise you to look arround SS stages such as Pass X-ono...

The company will replace noisy tubes. There has been a problem with some tubes being noisy with Aesthetix.

To clarify, I've gotten great results - including acceptable noise levels- from my Rhea once I switched out the tubes. Note that I use both a Grado (high output) and a Nightingale (low output). At both ends of the Rhea's gain range I'm getting acceptable noise levels. I say "acceptable" because I mean similar to the ARC and the Herron and I don't want to make any statement beyond my direct comparison to these units. Pure SS units at this price point may indeed be quieter, but I don't feel a need for improvement in this area in my system, anyway. Of course, if I ever did demo a quieter unit, who knows?

As to Marakanetz' recommendation of the PH-3, I'd disagree (in my system, anyway). The Rhea provides body in a way that makes the ARC sound thin and dry by comparison. The Herron, too, sounds dry, though not as dramatically so as the PH3. Remember, all 3 units are very good - I still own the Herron and the Rhea (the ARC was a loaner), but I use the Rhea as my primary phono amp.

The remote loading and multiple input/outputs (I use 2 Oracles, an ARC pre, a Sonic Frontier Pre and a Joule Pre) on the Rhea add a level of flexibility and user friendliness that provides real value in my unusual set-up. You may find these features less valuable in your system.

To reiterate, when using quiet tubes, the Rhea is quiet enough in my system.to keep me happy.

Xagwell, My advice is talk to Jim White at Aesthetix. You will not find a greater gentleman in Hifi audio. There is lots of rumor and innuendo and questionable fact being aired against the Rhea and the Calypso. If you want to bring the noise down on the Rhea you must have very good tube selection by a reputable source, period. I have owned the Aesthetix Rhea and Calypso (preamp) for some time now and can attest to the fact that they are very, very picky. It is not so much the brand of tube as it is the quality of the tube. Brands with give you flavor, quality tested and hand selected tubes with give you peace and quiet and you should find that for the extra attention to tube selection you will get back an extremely detailed and dynamic result. If your not up to chasing down a good tube supplier you may as well go out and trade the Rhea for very possibly a lesser phono amp. I have put this phono amp head to head with many, foremost a world class Aesthetix I/O with a full complement of vintage Telefunken and although the I/O will better it every time in dynamics, air, and scale, it will by a very small margin when you consider the price difference, not to mention the Rhea is far more flexible than most all phono amps on the market at any price including the I/O. IMHO the Rhea is the best overall value and sound out there. I’m not saying it’s easy or cheap, but it is the solution and it is worth it. Best regards.
Happy Listening!

Just buy a Tom Evans phono stage. My Groove Plus is DEAD quiet.