My new Aesthetix Io Eclipse does not sound like an Io. Don Saltzman told me that his new Callisto Eclipse does not sound like a Callisto.
Don has visited me several times and agrees about the Io. I just spent the evening with Don. Don also has an ARC REF 10 phono stage and an ARC REF 10 line stage. I concur that his Callisto Eclipse does not sound like a Callisto.
Even though Don is back to using the VTL MB-750s rather than the ARC REF 750 amplifiers the new Callisto has elevated Don's whole system to greater transparency, greater midrange to treble openness and air, and greater dynamics. This is now the most dynamic I have ever heard his Magnepan 20.7 system sound.
If you are in the market for a phono stage or for a line stage please dismiss what you think you know historically about sound of the Io and about the sound of the Callisto. All past comparisons between these components and competing components have to be re-run.
Jim White's new in-house wound transformers and other improvements have returned the Io and the Callisto to the state-of-the-art.
Don has visited me several times and agrees about the Io. I just spent the evening with Don. Don also has an ARC REF 10 phono stage and an ARC REF 10 line stage. I concur that his Callisto Eclipse does not sound like a Callisto.
Even though Don is back to using the VTL MB-750s rather than the ARC REF 750 amplifiers the new Callisto has elevated Don's whole system to greater transparency, greater midrange to treble openness and air, and greater dynamics. This is now the most dynamic I have ever heard his Magnepan 20.7 system sound.
If you are in the market for a phono stage or for a line stage please dismiss what you think you know historically about sound of the Io and about the sound of the Callisto. All past comparisons between these components and competing components have to be re-run.
Jim White's new in-house wound transformers and other improvements have returned the Io and the Callisto to the state-of-the-art.
Last edited: