Aesthetix Question

From your friend that is (apparently) getting out of analog.

We were glad to get that Io. It only needed a little work to make it the best Louis has ever heard. Total cost of the magic mods, including the NOS tubes was $330.00.

Tube upgrades on my Io are pushed way beyond that, but for the small investment we made, the results were astounding. That is why after the test, the Steelhead was put up for sale here at Audiogon.

That's great I am glad someone is getting some use out of his Io- it sounded good in his system- now only if he could sell the interconnect he would be free from vinyl. I wish I had more patients because there must be a lot of tweeking that can be done to aesthetix units, how ever I am lazy :)

Albert, in your comparisons of the Io-only versus the Io-plus-Callisto, you mention using the Koetsu and I'm assuming its the .02mv output Koetsu. Have you made the comparison with a higher output cartridge in the system? Just wondering if the added gain of the Callisto is making a big difference when using an extremely low output cartridge, and wondering if a less pronounced difference would exist if a higher output cartridge were in play. Best regards,

Good question Rushton. I owned a Benz Ruby 2 before the Koetsu, it had an output of only .3 MV. Therefore, my experience is more similar than different with these two cartridges.

I have not experimented with a high output cartridge, but considering the Io is capable of (approx.) 70 DB of gain, it can easily drive every amp made to full output, without exceeding the maximum output voltage.

However, gain, dynamics and headroom combined with musical "ease of presentation" are strange phenomenons. These are as difficult to explain as why two amps with the same rated power seem to perform so differently on the same speakers.

For whatever reason, having the additional gain from a preamp stage makes the music come alive. This is true with both the ARC and the Aesthetix preamp.

We all know that when the equipment has reserve and power waiting in the wings, the ability to bring the most miniscule detail or loudest passage of music to center stage makes the difference in believability.

Having said all that, there are many fine audio systems that would be improved by inserting an Io without benefit of a preamp. The two together is ideal, the Io alone is still better than many options available.

I have a bad habit of presenting things from a point of absolute. I suppose from working at perfecting two channel sound for so many years.

I want to share my experiences and thank Albert Porter for spending time to help me evaluate my system and make some recommendations.

First: The Steelhead although very quiet, detailed and fast, in my system simply was not as musical as the IO Signature. Actually the difference was significant and on different types of music.

Second: Both the Steelhead and the Io have volume controls and I listened to each unit without a line stage with the notion, that I could run the unit directly into the amps and eliminate the expence of a costly line stage. No such luck, in both instances, I was forced to reinsert the Audio Research Line stage, because it added immediacy, a much larger soundstage that extended outside the perimeter of the speakers and a vitality or palpability to the music that was missing.

Third: Changing out the tubes in the IO, in my opinion was an added bonus. To be able to extract more performance from this unit at such a reasonable cost is a deal. Once again Albert's experience paid off.

When I assembled the system initially, I felt that it had the potential to sound very natural and at times a little like live music. The mods we made to the system, in my opinion advances this process.