Phono preamp suggestions; can I improve upon my Aesthetix Rhea Sig ?

Hello,

I am not sure if you would be willing to try solid state. The Sutherland Little LOCO is really good. It’s quiet, has great dynamics at low and high volumes, the mids are nice and smooth. This is a current driven phono stage instead of voltage driven. This is one of those companies who have not raised their prices yet unlike all the rest of these companies. Plus, Ron Sutherland cares about the consumers happiness even over the money. If the little LOCO is out of the price range at $3800 there is a little brother to the Little LOCO called the TZ Vibe. Still current driven for $1400. I just tried this with the linear power supply intended for the Sutherland 20/20 and it was smooth as silk with more than enough gain for everyones needs. It doesn’t need the LPS to sound great but it did of course improve the sound. So for $1850 to have a fantastic phono stage with a linear power supply you can’t go wrong and definitely not at that price for a current driven phono stages that usually start or will start at $4000. BTW, Nice job on the cart. One of those really great carts on the market. If you live near the Chicagoland area you should visit

HolmAudio.com

Also, You can check out the new Acoustic Signature turntable. It is so good you will sell your car to get one. That Acoustic Signature Tornado turntable on the Ayre separates and the KEF Blades playing through the Sutherland TZ Vibe will make you question your past audio purchases. 

Hello,

I am not sure if you would be willing to try solid state. The Sutherland Little LOCO is really good. It’s quiet, has great dynamics at low and high volumes, the mids are nice and smooth. This is a current driven phono stage instead of voltage driven. This is one of those companies who have not raised their prices yet unlike all the rest of these companies. Plus, Ron Sutherland cares about the consumers happiness even over the money. If the little LOCO is out of the price range at $3800 there is a little brother to the Little LOCO called the TZ Vibe. Still current driven for $1400. I just tried this with the linear power supply intended for the Sutherland 20/20 and it was smooth as silk with more than enough gain for everyones needs. It doesn’t need the LPS to sound great but it did of course improve the sound. So for $1850 to have a fantastic phono stage with a linear power supply you can’t go wrong and definitely not at that price for a current driven phono stages that usually start or will start at $4000. BTW, Nice job on the cart. One of those really great carts on the market. If you live near the Chicagoland area you should visit

HolmAudio.com

Also, You can check out the new Acoustic Signature turntable. It is so good you will sell your car to get one. That Acoustic Signature Tornado turntable on the Ayre separates and the KEF Blades playing through the Sutherland TZ Vibe will make you question your past audio purchases. 

Hello,

I am not sure if you would be willing to try solid state. The Sutherland Little LOCO is really good. It’s quiet, has great dynamics at low and high volumes, the mids are nice and smooth. This is a current driven phono stage instead of voltage driven. This is one of those companies who have not raised their prices yet unlike all the rest of these companies. Plus, Ron Sutherland cares about the consumers happiness even over the money. If the little LOCO is out of the price range at $3800 there is a little brother to the Little LOCO called the TZ Vibe. Still current driven for $1400. I just tried this with the linear power supply intended for the Sutherland 20/20 and it was smooth as silk with more than enough gain for everyones needs. It doesn’t need the LPS to sound great but it did of course improve the sound. So for $1850 to have a fantastic phono stage with a linear power supply you can’t go wrong and definitely not at that price for a current driven phono stages that usually start or will start at $4000. BTW, Nice job on the cart. One of those really great carts on the market. If you live near the Chicagoland area you should visit

HolmAudio.com

Also, You can check out the new Acoustic Signature turntable. It is so good you will sell your car to get one. That Acoustic Signature Tornado turntable on the Ayre separates and the KEF Blades playing through the Sutherland TZ Vibe will make you question your past audio purchases. 

I agree with the posters below that you should settle in with your new turntable before making a change, if any, with your phono stage.

I owned an Aesthetix Rhea for a while and it is an excellent phono stage.

One of the suggestions is to try a SUT into the Rhea, and that could be a plus, especially if you can borrow one to try out. I think the output on the VDH at .65 mv should be a good match for the Rhea. Although the Rhea has some high gain settings, you can get into the noise floor with those.

You may want to look at the higher end Aesthetix IO if you have room and decide to move up.

Good luck with your search

Maybe different, not necessarily better.  But by all means, keep spending money on different phono preamps (instead of LPs) and let us know how it goes.