Aesthetix IO Signature upgrade path?

Ohjoy40,

Unfortunately I did not make note of resistors after the factory full eclipse upgrade.

If Glenn says there is a resistor upgrade that goes along with the new caps, I believe him. That being said, the resistors are ordinary compared to the caps, so if you can find those values you're set.

The new caps are shiny gold colored, superior to the red ones. I've heard just about every version of the IO and Callisto and the full Eclipse is certainly the best.

The new full Eclipse chassis is superior workmanship and beauty but it's horribly expensive and in my system did not show much if any performance upgrade.

I had the full eclipse with my original metal, I was one of the beta testers. Later I had full Eclipse metal on that same unit. That experience is what I base my chassis performance comments upon.

I have interior shots of the full Eclipse upgrade where caps are shown in great detail if that helps, email me through Audiogon and I'll send them to you.

On the resistors, the Mills are a more pure sound, I agree.

Problem was Mills had so many noise issues (that Aesthetix got blamed for) they could no longer trust sourcing them and then spending shop time solving problems. That's why they switched to Roederstein.

I considered testing premium resistors in the circuit but never got around to it. That's about the only performance paths I did not persue before selling my Aesthetix.

Good information thank you Mr. Porter

We were trying to do the upgrade without having to spend the crazy amount thier asking. I think were also wanting to ether go back to the original resistors or something else, we both feel the resistor change was a huge step backwards. It sounds dead compared to the way it originally sounded. I have a feeling that there really is no resistor tweek but I think im afraid to take the chance.

What phonostage did you end up switching to and why ? Hard to amagine anything close to the Aesthetix.

Thanks again for all the good info
Kevin

Ohjoy40,

I don't understand the technical issues requiring resistor swap when caps are upgraded but perhaps Glenn would elaborate. It might be worth a few minutes on the phone.

If you're sold on the Mills sound I would put them back in. I've installed new Mills resistors during an upgrade I was authorized by Aesthetix to do, it's not a difficult job.

I don't know if anyone has warned you, but NEVER plug or unplug the umbilicals from Aesthetix power supply and main unit within 15 minutes of having been turned on. It will blow a rectifier and not a pleasant job to repair.

Also, be VERY careful of high voltages inside both the Io and Callisto. There are places where voltage exceeds 500, 600 and even 1000 volts. I had a piece of skin burned off in about a millisecond when I was not paying close attention with the lid off.

I agree Aesthetix is superb, no need to swap for other equipment if you are happy with it. I was a dedicated Aesthetix user for about 10 years and Jim White is a great guy.

What phonostage did you end up switching to and why ?

I did not mean to evade your question. I only swap equipment for superior performance and/or reliability.

My Audiogon system

Hi Albert,

Interesting comment:

"I only swap equipment for superior performance and/or reliability."

I guess that means you are suggesting that the Alnico is better in some ways that the IO did not do it for you. And this was after you had both power supply options, the Signature upgrade and extensive tube rolling on the IO to boot. I guess that means you were really wowed by the Alnico.

Ciao,

Audioquest4life