Aesthetix Calypso vs ARC LS25 MK2

Yes Perfectionist, Tubes take a little time to settle in. For my Aesthetix Calypso and Rhea maybe as little as a half hour with some music playing at low volumes. Digital has its place! But I notice a decided richness and fullness several hours of listening in (3 to 4). It seems like the more the better but I would swear on the same thing about my former solid-state gear as well. It would start out a little pale and brittle in the morning and then by that evening... WOW! it would have more soul than brother Ray (Charles). Well, almost anyway. IMHO there isn't a single piece of gear out there that sounds great when it's cold. Cheers!

Perfectionist, now that you have decided on the pre, tubes, and cords - I recommend getting Herbie's tube dampers. For the price, they make a very nice and immediate improvement on the Calypso as well as many other pre's.
I first tried some standard silicone o-rings from NAPA, and the Herbie's are better.

Tgun5, I've heard tube dampeners can sometimes make the soundstage more closed in.
What say you?

More fun...

Well, this pre completely went in the shitter since I reported on 8/29.
Dare I say, almost unlistenable. I'd be better off with a Bose Waveradio at this point.
I wouldn't force my worst enemy to sit and listen to it! (LOL)
And this is over a couple of listening sessions. There is no doubt that the pre is the culprit,
as nothing else has changed in my system, and all other pieces in the chain are fully broken in.

This is most frustrating, so much so that if I had another pre on hand, I'd pull the Calypso out of my system. But I don't have another pre, so I have no choice but to ride this out.
My JC1's went through severe "mood swings" over the 1500 hour break-in period, which I painstakingly logged all hours so I knew what was what. So I can only assume that this pre is still going thru "changes." So, as of last night I'm leaving it on 24/7 with a signal running through it.

I have no clue how many hours are on the Calypso, as I've logged none.
Just reporting what I'm hearing...

Oh my!!! And just whenI was getting quite interested in this (Calypso) pre amp!! I currently have an ARC LS25 and Rhea Phono and was geting ready for a possible change....but I'll wait for your further reports.....good luck!!!

Steady Perfectionist. . . it is likely that your linestage is just undergoing a little pubescent crisis. As soon as it gets over those new exciting hormonal changes, you'll be able to reason with it once again. Be patient. . . and you won't have to wait until its 20th birthday either! (chuckles!)