Aesthetix Calypso vs ARC LS25 MK2

It's been about two weeks since the Calypso has been in my system, and IMO, it's a very close race between these two pre's. I'm sure some of you will think I'm nuts, but in my system and room, and to these ears, it's close. The Calypso does do many things better than the LS25, but not everything. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to do a tube shootout. I did receive the Tesla warranty replacement tubes, one of which was noisy. But I was able to make a quiet pair between the original Tesla's and the warranty replacements. I ran all this past weekend with the Brimars installed. I'm not the greatest at throwing around esoteric audiophile terms, but I'll try to describe what I'm hearing. The Calypso definetly accels in the area of vocals, especially female vocals, which have never sounded so lush and realistic in my system. And I would say the Calypso wins in the area of soundstaging and imaging. Also, I'm able to hear small details in the music much better, micro and macro? I havent decided if it's smoother or any easier on the ears just yet. The one area I feel the LS25 is beating it in is bass, believe it or not. It's not so much a lack of bass, but it's different, and I can't quite put my finger on it. But in all fairness, my LS25 has who knows how many hours on it, compared to maybe 150 hours for the Calypso. Perhaps this is playing a part? Also, I havent spent any serious time with the other tube sets. I also have not tried any iso devices under this pre, although I run my LS25 on it's stock footers. The only iso device I have are Daruma III's under my cdp (I'm waiting on a Nueance platform for cdp). A buddy is going to let me try his Aurios Pro's under the pre. I'm using a 3' Harmonic Tech Pro AC-11 pc, and I'm wondering if the Calypso may benefit from a different pc. And I have not attempted to reposition my speaks at this time (although, this has proved futile in the past). I guess what I'm saying is that I'm on the fence with this as they are both great pre's, IMO. In fact, it's so close that this is gonna take me weeks to nail down and I'm not ready to part with the LS25 at this point.
I may even have to pull the stupid TV off the top shelf of my rack and do a pre shootout.
I wanna like the Calypso more than the LS25, it's a thing of beauty, love the numeric volume readout, display dimmer/off, standby mode, and it's easy to service, i.e., change tubes.

I'd really like to hear commentary and/or suggestions from other Calypso owners...

I've finally ended up with the Calypso after a 2 year preamp search. I find it to be the most neutral and revealing preamp to date, with very good air, detail, and presence. Price was not an object in my search as I have owned a Hovland HP100, BAT 50SE, Levinson 32, Conrad 17LS, and Sierra K2 within the past two years. All of the Aesthetix dealers I spoke to prior to purchase indicated that the Calypso was 98% of the Callisto in performance. I don't know this to be true, but, each could have taken considerably more money from me had they said differently - and they knew this. All of these preamps including the Calypso were compared to the ARC LS25 at a friend’s house who previously owned one. We both found the Calypso to be considerably better than the LS25 in all areas. As far as rankings, my friend prefers the Sierra, I prefer the Calypso. We both agree that the rest rank as follows: 1) Calypso/Sierra 2) Hovland 3) Conrad 4) ARC 5) BAT 6)Levinson. Bottom line is that the Calypso is in the upper realm of current preamps and there are many reviews that back this up. I use the Aurios Pro's under the preamp and a Supra Lorad PC. Put a set of Tungsram's in (all sockets), and you will find the music.

Tgun5, thanks for your input, very interesting, and I'd like to ask you some questions...

1) Was the LS25 MK1 or MK2? The thread title says MK2, but I own a Mk1.

2) Did you find there was a lengthy break-in period & approximately how long?

3) I have Tungsram 12ax7's here that I will be test driving this weekend.
I was under the impression that only the 12ax7's were the important tubes.
Are the 6922's also critical in your opinion?

Perfectionist: Thanks for the update. It's nice to read your honest experiences between the two products. I too can relate to how difficult it can be to ultimately give the nod to one component vs. another when they each have their own strengths. But if there is anyone out there who has put a ton of effort to get the Calypso to do its best, it's Jadem6 (JD) so contacting him would be worth your time.

Rja: Great to learn of another twin cities audio fan. I hope to get with JD and Art soon to do their fancy power cord shootout.

Tgun5: Your comment on all the Aesthetix dealers that you talked to about the Calypso being 98% of the Callisto is interesting. I think of a 2% or even a 5% or 10% difference in performance improvement as being rather subtle - almost to a point where you need to focus your attention to hear the difference. This is clearly not the case compared to the Callisto. The instant you switch from either model to the other, it is VERY clear why the Callisto costs much more. To claim a 98% performance is being a bit too generous on the Calypso's performance. But that's just my view on these two products.

John