Aesthetix vs. Allnic vs. ARC ph7

Sbrown, Changing the output coupling caps in my Janus made a profound difference in sound. I happened to have some 2uF polystyrene film and foils in my stash, and I used those.

How did you find space to fit the Dueland capacitors in the Io? Unless it affords a lot more room than does the Janus, I would doubt that they fit. I used 300V Vcaps in the Janus. They're only a little larger than the stock polypropylenes.

Sbrown just to clarify the rhea I AB'd against the Herron had a premium Jim mcshane tubeset in it. The Herron had telefunkens in it. 3 of us present all preferred the Herron. I'm a little baffled with your experience as it is so different than ours. Was yours the latest Herron? Did it have good tubes in it?

"Analogluvr
Sbrown just to clarify the rhea I AB'd against the Herron had a premium Jim mcshane tubeset in it."

What is "a premium Jim mcshane tubeset"? What tubes are in this?

Thanks.

This guy hand selects low noise tubes for the various positions. I forget which ones as I had just borrowed the unit for a week.

Jim McShane's tube selections for the Rhea are:
(4) "Mullard" reissue long plate 12AX7's
(4) Sovtek 12AX7LPS
(2) Genelex reissue 6922EH

The big deal is that Jim goes through hundreds of tubes to get especially low-noise sets. Unfortunately, this means he rarely has sets to offer these days because they have become popular with Rhea owners. I'm on the waiting list for a set.

There's some nice synergy at work here, that other brand combinations of new-production don't seem to achieve. Call it "magic" if you like.

HTH