Aesthetix Io Users Group
- Thread starter audioquest4life
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Glad you have an alternate phono stage to tide you over. The wait for the Io upgrade is worth it. You will be utterly satisfied with the improvements.
@OGH,
The transformer upgrade provides the following; more efficient = less heat, less hum, and overall better quality. After I did the upgrade I immediately noticed a reduction in heat levels, even with extended hours of use. Before it was noticeably hot when used for several hours. Now, it is warm but not hot after a few hours of play. I am enjoying the Io thoroughly for what it offers in sound playback.
Thank you! I am not sure - do I need this upgrade, or maybe, yes in the future, but not right now? Unless I have heat problems (not so much here in Norway). I shipped the two-box mk2 Io to Aesthetix for Eclipse upgrade in 2012, and also got a new second power supply. The three-box system was in for repair in 2017. Not sure what is needed, regarding transformer upgrade, in my case.
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Have been listening to the system off and on in between trying to sell our house. And that is not going too well due to the economy and spike in interest rates. We are selling our home as we are building our retirement home. But we look forward to this last move. We have moved too many times because of our careers.
In regards to listening sessions, I could not be more satisfied with the system overall. The last Io upgrade (factory refresh to partial Eclipse/dual power supplies with new transformers) has clearly brought musical enjoyment to the forefront…even when played constantly hours and hours. A couple of my Cars and Coffee buddies, another hobby of mine, came over to the house for a listen, and well, we have owners of Corvettes, Porsches, Ferraris, Jaguars, and Dodge Demons, Shelby GT350s at the house all enjoying the music for hours. Everyone says that listening to a record at this level brought in a new perspective on how artists convey delicate emotional artifacts into the recording. They were mesmerized by the sheer quality of the musical recording, no matter what it was. Led Zeppelin Jimmy Paige masters, original Led Zeppelin, especially Stairway to Heaven, Chic greatest hits, Wagner, Pink Floyd, America, BB King, Jimi Hendrix Martin Scorsese editions, Supertramp Live in Paris, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and many more. After this listening session, everyone said we must do this more often..sharing of music and listening to what the artists wanted to convey.
I did get a little side tracked one time and jumped on the Linlai 6SN7 bandwagon for a week or so. Nope, not for me, I went back to the Russian tube that was included with the Io. No need to mess with perfection.
My future dilemma will be once we move, I need to figure out if I should leave the tubes in the equipment for transport and storage while we complete the retirement home,,,hmmm. I can’t wait for this phase to be over. Our builder says next May is when the retirement home will be completed. Too far away.
Have a great listening session and enjoy the time spent with others.
In regards to listening sessions, I could not be more satisfied with the system overall. The last Io upgrade (factory refresh to partial Eclipse/dual power supplies with new transformers) has clearly brought musical enjoyment to the forefront…even when played constantly hours and hours. A couple of my Cars and Coffee buddies, another hobby of mine, came over to the house for a listen, and well, we have owners of Corvettes, Porsches, Ferraris, Jaguars, and Dodge Demons, Shelby GT350s at the house all enjoying the music for hours. Everyone says that listening to a record at this level brought in a new perspective on how artists convey delicate emotional artifacts into the recording. They were mesmerized by the sheer quality of the musical recording, no matter what it was. Led Zeppelin Jimmy Paige masters, original Led Zeppelin, especially Stairway to Heaven, Chic greatest hits, Wagner, Pink Floyd, America, BB King, Jimi Hendrix Martin Scorsese editions, Supertramp Live in Paris, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and many more. After this listening session, everyone said we must do this more often..sharing of music and listening to what the artists wanted to convey.
I did get a little side tracked one time and jumped on the Linlai 6SN7 bandwagon for a week or so. Nope, not for me, I went back to the Russian tube that was included with the Io. No need to mess with perfection.
My future dilemma will be once we move, I need to figure out if I should leave the tubes in the equipment for transport and storage while we complete the retirement home,,,hmmm. I can’t wait for this phase to be over. Our builder says next May is when the retirement home will be completed. Too far away.
Have a great listening session and enjoy the time spent with others.
Your welcome. Based on what you stated, it appears that you do not need to upgrade. If you are not experiencing excessive heat or can hear hum then I would say only send back to factory if absolutely necessary based on distance. You can always call Aesthetix and ask if your model has the newer power supplies. They should be able to tell you based on the serial numbers. If the previous owner had sent it in for an update, perhaps it was done during that update. My unit was purchased in 2004/2005 ish, long ago. Electronics were upgraded over the years with newer models. I never felt wanting in my original Io Signature configuration, but the partial Eclipse and dual power supply upgrade does bring the Io to the upper level of a reference sounding system. At least to me and a few others who own this configuration.
Aesthetix started winding their own transformers a few years back, not sure how long. There is a short video of it on their twitter feed. With the transformer made to their exact specifications and incorporating some additional isolation materials/techniques, apparently they have lowered the noise floor. I will report on it when I get my power supplies back.
I don't think I would have had this done as an upgrade, but since I had to send in the power supplies to fix another issue I decided to get the new transformers. The upgrade is over $2K USD.
I need advice on cartridge output and s/n for a pending cartridge rebuild. Any experience from Lyra SL and non-SL users is welcome. I am sending my Lyra Kleos for a rebuild. I cannot decide between the Kleos or Kleos SL. The Kleos has an output of 0.5mV@5cm/sec and 5.4ohm self-impedance, 9.0uH inductance. The Kleos SL has an output of 0.25mV@5cm/sec and 2.7 ohm self-impedance. Most Lyra SL users state the SL's are better than the regular models.
When I read about the Lyra SL cartridges people note them needing current input design phono preamps to sounds their best. The Io has tons of gain I am not using so that's not an issue. I am using attn4 on the non-volume control model. I just don't know how well the SL models work on the Io? If using stock tubes would you go regular Lyra or SL knowing I have gain to spare?
When I read about the Lyra SL cartridges people note them needing current input design phono preamps to sounds their best. The Io has tons of gain I am not using so that's not an issue. I am using attn4 on the non-volume control model. I just don't know how well the SL models work on the Io? If using stock tubes would you go regular Lyra or SL knowing I have gain to spare?
I have had a Etna SL on the Io - all with hand selected telefunkens. I had no issues. Having said that- I have had the Atlas on it side by side- The Atlas hits you in the chest at .56mV with its slam.
Overall you need to consider your room gain , speaker efficiency and not get so caught up with the volume controls on the Io being turned past 2 oclock.
There is a delicacy with the SL models from Lyra. The SL will work with the Io.
Overall you need to consider your room gain , speaker efficiency and not get so caught up with the volume controls on the Io being turned past 2 oclock.
There is a delicacy with the SL models from Lyra. The SL will work with the Io.
Well, the time has come to break down the system and put it in storage until our house is built. I decided to leave the tubes in the Io as I am transporting it along with most of my stereo to father in laws house and putting it all in the conditioned basement. Last listen was Friday night, sigh. I am addicted to listening to music on this system and it will be sorely be missed until I set things back up on the other side.
House is supposed to be complete between February and May 2023. 10 foot ceilings in basement and 1st floor. New music room is 34 X 24.
We just sold our house and I am moving into an apartment until i can relocate with my job or another. I will take the Transrotor Dark Star with Soundsmith Sussaro MKII with me along with B&W 804ds. Marantz surround receiver for movies and music. That’s it, oh, about 25 boxes of records go with me also into the apartment.
House is supposed to be complete between February and May 2023. 10 foot ceilings in basement and 1st floor. New music room is 34 X 24.
We just sold our house and I am moving into an apartment until i can relocate with my job or another. I will take the Transrotor Dark Star with Soundsmith Sussaro MKII with me along with B&W 804ds. Marantz surround receiver for movies and music. That’s it, oh, about 25 boxes of records go with me also into the apartment.
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Congratulations on the move. I don't envy you.
Breaking down a serious system such as yours is a lot of work. I did it about 10 years ago and I still have records in storage, lol.
You're going to love the height and the space in your new room. Ceiling height is so important. I ended up with just short of 10' ceilings in the basement as we tore down an existing home to build and had to come out with the right grade to the street with my requirement of no more than 2 steps up for the front porch. I ended up with about 20x 45 for the room. Your dimensions sound great!
Lots of fun ahead!
Just got the power supplies back, they have the new Aesthetix transformers. Also had an intermittent drop out fixed - turned out to be a resistor that was going open circuit. The power supplies are in the rack and warming up. I briefly turned on the amps - eerily quiet. Had to turn up the volume to make sure everything was on.
Here's the new transformers:
Here's the new transformers:
Good luck with the move. The new room and 10 foot ceilings should be fantastic. My lower level (not really a basement) is 20 by 40 with 10 foot ceilings. The room is 20 by 20, but there are two additional bedrooms off the media room that I leave open, extending the length another 20 feet. One of those bedrooms is the "vault" - aka record collection.
Kool, I did not know that Aesthetix wound their own. My are Mercury Magnetics- I had no issues with mine- knock on wood- when I sent the whole kit down for the Eclipse upgrade a couple of years ago.
Enjoy!
I didn't realize it either until they told me about it. There is a brief reference to it on their Facebook page from 2020:
Aesthetix winding xformer
I put on a record when the supplies were first powered up. At first, I thought the left channel was out since there was only sax and drums in the right channel (Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson). Then, the bass came in through the left channel. Jaw drop moment. It was so quiet I did not even know that both channels were working until both had music in them.
Congratulations on getting your Io back. I believe the dual power supply upgrade makes a profound difference in sound quality. The dual mono power supplies create that sense of wide stereo separation that I did not have before the upgrade. Although, the Io Signature is a great starting point.
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audioquest4life- this was an upgrade to my existing dual power supplies. I have had the dual supplies and had the Eclipse upgrades done. This was a further upgrade replacing the Mercury Magnetics power transformers with custom hand built Aesthetix transformers. Aesthetix has added additional materials to the transformers to further reduce noise. I also had a failing resistor in one of my power supplies that they traced down and replaced.
Aesthetix has switched over to their own in house power transformers a couple years ago, but without much fanfare. It takes the Eclipse upgrade a step further down the improvement path. I would probably have not done the upgrades without needing to send the power supplies down for the troubleshooting and repair.
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