Romulus CD player--

Grannyring,

You're a funny guy.

My point is very simple, you don't have a Signature Romulus, and have never heard one.

Your guess about modding is wrong,

Wow, you have a 70 pound preamp, does that make it better than a 40 pound preamp?

Problem here is that your ego makes you think you've done something that others want to copy.

Kana I give up with as you just like to argue. This site has a few like you and I took the bait. Too bad. Enjoy your system and I will mine. I am sure we both have more important priorities.

Those interested in a world class stand/footers for you gear, these Apprentice stands are an excellent choice. I will order a couple more for my preamp and amps. The whole topic of mechanical grounding is most interesting and these stands incorporate state of the art wisdom in their design and materials choice.

I owned the Aesthetix Callisto Signature and Io non signature for 5+ years. The Signature update is not that big of a deal when it comes to parts updates. Caps updated to Dynamicaps….big deal! They were fine a decade ago but nothing special now. For a "Signature" product to use these as the top capacitor is questionable. And a handful of resistors in "ideal" locations….again, big deal. And the price markup for the parts "updates" is crazy.

The major improvement is to 86 all the Sovteks in these units and play a combination of Tele, Mullard and RCA. A non-sig unit with rolled tubes will easily destroy a signature unit with stock tubes. I suspect the same is for the Aesthetix digital gear.

It is very easy for Grannyring to spend a fraction of the Signature update and put in the same parts and achieve the same. I did this with the Io. In in fact, for the same cost, it is very easy to DIY to take the non-sig product beyond the Signature.

Having to "hear" an authentic Signature model to get the true Aesthetix magic is ridiculous.

I understand Kana813's point in this sense, technically Grannyring's modified Romulus isn't "identical" to the official Signature edition. Having acknowledged this point it's surely possible that Grannyring's version could be the better sounding unit. A majority of listeners might prefer the Jupiter copper foil caps to the Signature's Dynamicap option.A very good preamp may out perform the VC sound card option.
Charles,