Aesthetix Rhea or Manley Steelhead

I owned a Rhea for three years and enjoyed it very much, except for the tube rush. Recently I upgraded to a Steelhead and it is more coherent, detailed and dynamic. Don't get me wrong the Rhea is no slouch and until recently was the finest tubed phono stage I had owned. The Steelhead is simply a superior piece of gear.

I hosted the shootout mentioned by Swampwalker and second his report. The owner of the Rhea put it up for sale the next day and ordered a Doshi Alaap.

In fairness, an Alaap phono stage retails for ~2-3X the Rhea so it should be better and it is... shockingly so.

The Steelhead didn't quite match the Alaap or VAC for harmonic complexity and macro-dynamic punch. (The Alaap is impressively unlimited in the latter regard.) But the Manley was very creditable (did nothing wrong) and enjoyable, especially considering its lower cost. By comparison, the Rhea sounded murky, congested and it had a high noise floor (tube rush).

P.S. the speakers were B&W 803D's.

Doug- As our fellow adopted fellow Nutmegger said, "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most!"

Yes, I listened to both and the Manley is better in every aspect.