Aesthetix Io Sig vs Manley Steelhead-opinions pls

Vinyl definitely does it better than digital and I agree that Aesthetix does it better than any preamp I've heard.
I sometimes wonder about the "black backgrounds" and "silence" that people get excited about, especially when they insert new digital, new cables, or new power conditioning into their systems. I have heard some very expensive products which provide silent, 'black backgrounds.' The background is certainly free of ambient detail, note decays, action (the projection of sound from images towards the listener) and spatial information.
I won't name names so as not to offend.

Not all trailing-edge transiency is equal. Listen for a component's ability to reproduce human intervention on decay. Perhaps most audibly evident from percussionists dampening their instrument (timps, bass drums, cymbals, bells,) with their hands. Conductors and concert musicians are aware of decay and actively manage it. Its pretty cool. That big dynamic full stop that leaves an harmonic cloud sprayed over the entire orchestra - that wonderful moment when the air is charged, when some are sated and some are stunned and no one is yet applauding. Or the flickering fade from the single emberesque note at the top end. Bow no longer touching string, asymptotic, the lark ascending.

And yep - some cables with their bloodless black backgrounds sucking on the event horizon only to offer hyped hi-fi artificiality that screams digititus. Point my ear at a real world black background - pretty rare if you ask me.

Tim

Tim,
Very well stated. Thank you.

Is the IO the very best?

Jtimothia, WOW! Very nice. Some will refer to that kind of language as descriptive pornography. Too bad, it's their loss. How can one remove the romance of the music from it's description? Anyway back to the subject at hand: It is an old and common truism among musicians that the silences are even more important than the notes. Enough said!