Aesthetix IO Signature upgrade path?

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

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

I had Aesthetix when it was not recognized by the audio community, it's been available since 1994. Early on it had some issues but I liked what it offered and walked through all the upgrades and tube swaps for over a decade and have absolutely no regrets.

Aesthetix was absolutely remarkable when it was introduced, no equal anywhere on earth in my opinion. It took nearly 15 years for other product to catch up and there are still only a few pieces out there that are equal or better.

In all fairness the Aesthetix pieces have the same circuit board and basic parts as their first model. Upgrades are significant with new caps, resistors and other parts but the original design is intact.

I think in a time when companies throw away their design every few years Aesthetix has a world class record and still provides performance that's in the very top tier.

Allnic is better in several ways and does that out of the box against Aesthetix Io and Callisto, even if you outfit the Aesthetix with thousands of dollars worth of NOS tubes (and these tubes are a must in my opinion).

The Allnic remote is excellent, no extra charge and the Allnic chassis takes half (or less) the shelf my Aesthetix required. Allnic runs cooler, requires less maintenance, has longer tube life, has better signal to noise, produces music with lower distortion, higher resolution and far more precise placement of voices and individual instruments in complex musical passages.

Last, the Allnic cost less than half and has a better warranty. Like I said, I tend to stay with what works but if something proves itself in enough ways I will make the jump.

Hi Albert,

Thank you for your thorough reply. I was interested in your thought process as to why you switched to another phono stage. Space alone is a compelling reason for many not to get the full blown version of the IO, in addition to the added costs of the full upgrades. Yet, the IO does perform well under the construct of what it was designed to do since 1994 and I like that in a company. My German made amps and preamp (Octave) are basically the same design concepts from the 80's. It took me about 4 years to find a better phono stage than the one built in my Octave HP 500SE preamp, a testament to the quality. I make this point because it is fair to say that Aesthetix has made a great product and like you, I jumped into another phono stage because it was better, in this case, I went from the Octave HP500SE phono to the Aesthetix. That being said, it is hard to be king of the road for such a long time. Even Octave has developed their own phono stage (a small write up is in the 2011 buyers guide, either TAS or Stereophile, forgot), and I am waiting patiently to try it out, go figure.

I am glad to read your posts and appreciate the time you take to answer questions, even drive by questions. Thanks.

Enjoy your new phono stage.

V/R
Audioquest4life