Superb PHONO Preamp ?


There are now some very interesting Phono Preamps out there.
Sooner or later I am interested to buy one, beside my existing Stan Klyne 7 PX 3.5
I was very interested in the newest Design from
Aesthetix Io phono Signature Version.

Now I heard from 2 other units which caught my attenttion, the
Tom Evans Design " The Groove "
and from
Manley , the " Steelhead ".
I don't have much info about them - beside their Websites - but I heard some interesting things.

Is someone out there who owns one of these units or has compared one of these to others and can give a little info ?
I use always MC's, I prefer low output, that means, around 0.20 mV.
The Klyne can handle this WITHOUT ANY Problems, and I would like to have another Phono amp TO DO this SAME way.

These are all units which - I imagine -, will only be bought from REAL ANALOG specialists, so this info could be very interesting.

( Please don't write me stories from Linn, Audio Research etc. ,these are not in this class )
Thanks
Thomas
thomasheisig
extremephono - you're the only one i've heard of that has tried the pentagon fono-stage. i presently own & enjoy one, run thru a melos music-director preamp. any recommendations on how to improve on it, w/o breaking the bank? buying used, of course... ;~)

thanks, doug s.

My comment on Aesthetix is solely relative to other phono stages I heard. It is more noisy than Vendetta and other solid state and bigger/lusher than solid state should not be a surprise, but it doesn't mean that it is all gooey like a Jadis.

But, if you have not heard the Linto, Vendetta, or Groove, it is hard to grasp how 'fast' these phono stages are relative to tube, no matter how good, tubes are 1000x slower than the best solid state. That's fact, no design can fundamentally make tube to have a faster rise-time and higher damping factor than solid state design. For personal preference, I like fast, high impact sound, and thus I am using linestage from Spectral, and active speakers like ATC SCM50ASL.

Perhaps I should rephrase that "Aesthetix is the fastest tube phono stage, but slower than the fastest solid state phono stage"... that's what I really meant. It is definitely a much better stage the ARC PH3, but still more noisy than the PH3.
The COTY award went to Connoisseur, but your reference to the ranking actually is the 'Best Buy' award, which meant to say the Linto was a better value than Connoisseur, not a surprise.

The COTY is cost-no-object accolade, but it is also not exhaustive, as only candidates submitted for COTY competition (major cost $$$-wise for manufacturers), and the setup, hand-holding, etc has to be first-class to compete in COTY. While Best Buy is a loose entry requirement, and the reviewers were given broad liberty and a budget of 'stars' to vote for BB products.
hi Extremephono, you are correct, i have not listened to the ss phono stages you mention and they may very well be a little faster and quieter than the Io.

I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of your comments. But i do think that the fact that you sell Tom Evans "the Groove" should be mentioned when you endorse it. I have read the reviews and your comments are consistent with what i have read.

Don't get me wrong, i think you are trying to be helpful and look forward to your continued participation in this and other threads. In fact, i may e-mail you regarding an audition of "the Groove". So, please don't take my comments as anything more than a friendly suggestion.
The connoisseur definintions phonostage has been purchased by Japanese audiophiles that have compared it with many of the other superb phonostages mentioned in previous posts.It is regarded as an upgrade to the top FM acoustics phonostage in particular.As a money no object product it is, as with its sibling linestage, regarded as the best available in Japan(with the possible exception of the
Connoisseur definitions 3.0 full function preamp at $50,000).