Aesthetix Calypso -vs- Ayre K-1Xe preamps?

Audio girl
It's off subject and I hope you get your answer but have to ask a question and make one comment.First do you play LP's a lot and find calypso incrporated enough of the Rhea into it?(I maybe wrong but thought Calypso was not just a line stage but full LP player as well).And aren't we talking glass verusus solid state?Me I alwayss thought that glass went better in center to adjust voltage but tube amps i have had in poast would lack bass controll and defintely (at same price point) roll off highs.Think I would consider what else I was going to put into mix.Hope you get you head who has done a head to head.
G'luck
Chazzbo

how is the reliabity of the Aesthetix?

Chazzbo, the Calypso is linestage only. The Aesthetix Janus is the full function preamp in the line.

Mikesinger, the reliability of the Aesthetix is just fine from all I hear. And as self-disclosure, I'm a very satisfied owner of an Aesthetix Io Signature.

Audio_girl, you may have some difficulty getting a response to your specific question because you've paired two specific pieces that not many will have had an opportunity to directly compare. The Ayre certainly has a good reputation, so does the Aesthetix. From what I've read and heard, the differences will be qualitative and preference will strongly depend on one's listening priorities. For example, I just could never give up those things that I've only heard excellent tube electronics do. For me, excellent tube gear delivers a magic 'naturalness' to the sound that I never hear in solid state at any level. I consistently hear a difference in the rendering of the harmonic overtones of instruments and the microdynamics that makes a meaningful difference to me. Since I listen almost entirely to acoustic music (classical primarily), the natural rendering of acoustic instruments is important to me, and tubes more often get this right for me. FWIW, the Aesthetix gear is some of the best at getting this right of any I've listened to over my 30+ years in this hobby.

But, none of this answers the specific question you asked. Hopefully someone in the community will be able to give you some thoughts based on having actually heard both the K-1Xe and the Calypso.
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Audio girl, I've been reading your preamp threads, and since I didn't have any experience to offer, I've refrained from replying. You've got a lot of excellent advice in other threads, and I don't think there's enough audiophiles here who have compared the two to really give you a consensus.

As mentioned on other threads, you're really looking at solid state vs tube and you've stated that you're very tempted to try out a tube pre. So you really should audition a tube preamp and see if you like it. Now are you using the phono section in the Ayre? If so, that might be a consideration too.

Well, since you have gotten zip in the way of input, I will give you my "impressions" of the differences. (FYI, I have the Ayre K-1XE, and I love it.) Please note this comparision is based upon my friend's Aesthetix Rhea phono preamp, not the Calypso line stage. However, I am lead to believe (based on my reviews and my friend's auditioning of the Calypso), that they are similiar is sonics.) FYI, my friend uses an ARC Ref. 2 preamp, with his Rhea, in case that makes any difference to you.

You should already know the Ayre strengths and weaknesses, as you have one. They are very detailed, have a very low noise floor, it is a true balanced design, and it is very musical, (surprisingly so for a solid state unit).
The phono stage is very good, but not quite as good as the Aesthetix Rhea. The Rhea is slightly more musical, and the distortion from the tubes is not as grainy as the Ayre. (Not that the Ayre has much graininess, but it is solid state, so there is a little bit at higher volumes.)

The weakness of the Rhea, and from what I have read, the same is true of the Calypso, is that they are a bit on the noisy side for tube units. Tube rolling will solve some of this, but it will never be quite as a quiet as the Ayre.

As you can see, there are trade offs involved for both.

Question to you now:
What about the Ayre are you not satified with?
(Or is it just upgraditis hitting you?)
From what listening to my friend's Rhea, it is a fine phono preamp, and having a bit of noise in a phono preamp is somewhat to be expected. However, having the same noise in a line stage is a bit distracting. If you go that route, do a search here and on Audio Asylum as to which tubes to try. (I gave up on my ARC LS-2 preamp and PH-3 phono preamp for exactly that reason: the tube rushing noise eventually got to me. I have no regrets at all about not having tubes in my preamp sections of my system!)

However, in my opinion, YOU just might be better off with the Calypso, (and the Rhea, as you will need a phono stage too) as you would at least introduce a bit of that ole "tube magic" with a tube preamp, since you are considering a solid state set of monoblocks.
I did the same type of thing, except I went reversed it.
I use my Ayre K-1XE preamp with hybrid Lamm M2.1 monoblock amps. The Lamms only have one tube in each channel, but it is just enough to get me the mid-range magic that tubes provide. (However, like a good solid state amp, the frequency extension on both ends, but especially in the bass response, is fantastic with the Lamms.) Another thought for you would be to get the Aesthetix Janus, which combines the Calypso and the Rhea into one unit. (Save you a bit of money.)

Anyway, take what I wrote with a grain of salt, as I have had to extrapolate from a similar unit, and from my friends experience, rather than a straight up comparision myself.

Well, Good Luck in your search!