Aesthetix Io Users Group

[Lagonda]

My location is Lemgo, Northrhine-Westfalia,

Mail: in.audio@gmx.de

Thank you !

 

[Reinhard]

I know that. But do'nt worry, i am in contact with Jim and he Serves me with spare parts, when needed,

 

[Lagonda]

On September 4, 2023, Jim White wrote here:


Aesthetix has distribution in over 30 countries, and each distribution partner maintains service facilities and personnel. In some cases these personnel have visited Aesthetix in the USA for extensive factory training, and in other cases I have visited them for training. During these visits we are able to assess technicians' abilities to repair, upgrade and maintain Aesthetix's products, and decide whether to authorize them to perform this work. Factory authorized technicians are located in numerous countries, including Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, the EU, several Asian countries, Australia and several other regions as well.

When we are contacted by a third party technician (not factory trained or authorized) wishing to repair an Io, we almost universally advise that the unit be serviced by our distributor or authorized service center for that country or region. Io repairs are rarely simple or easy, and our ability to train a third party technician on the appropriate procedures is severely limited due to the breadth of information required. In repairs done at the factory or at authorized service centers, at the time of a repair, we will advise the customer of required or optional updates and upgrades to extend the life of the product, to improve sound quality and to minimize future repairs. Electronic products approaching 30 years old often have other parts that should be replaced at the same time.

As a consumer when a product is repaired by a third-party technician in contact with the factory, the consumer assumes the repair is done correctly and the product is fully tested. As the manufacturer we have no ability to assess the quality of work of a third-party technician, or of the completeness of repairs. This could result in a future failure that could have been prevented, or even could cause a safety hazard, which, sadly we have seen.

Where, as here with Aesthetix, an owner can have a component repaired by a factory authorized technician it makes no sense to me to have the component evaluated and attempted to be repaired by an unauthorized, third-party technician. I, personally, would never have a non-factory authorized, third-party technician touch one my components when there is a procedure for repair by a factory authorized technician.

Fine words by Jim, but utter BS when it comes to Scandinavia, there is no factory authorized technician here, nobody has been factory trained or authorized ! Last time the distributor needed to repair my Io, he sent it to a good repair guy in Sweden, who could not get a diagram from Aesthetix ! I know this because the repair guy has been a good friend of mine for 15 years.

 

[Kcin]

Now the big question for me, where in Germany are you located Reinhard ?

Milan has found a new friend............

 

[Lagonda]

Milan has found a new friend............

He is only a 6 hour drive away from home ! My guy in Sweden has retired and was 8 hours away !

 

[BoyDK]

He is only a 6 hour drive away from home ! My guy in Sweden has retired and was 8 hours away !

Well........
I´ve been in the repair-business for almost 50 years too (retired now unless
between friends of course) .
This is my first time with an Aesthetix product though..... but with the support from several of you guys in here incl. Jim, the result will reveal itself in a couple of days..... and @Lagonda ....... I´m only 2-3 hours drive away from you,
if ever needed in the future

 

[Lagonda]

Well........
I´ve been in the repair-business for almost 50 years too (retired now unless
between friends of course) .
This is my first time with an Aesthetix product though..... but with the support from several of you guys in here incl. Jim, the result will reveal itself in a couple of days..... and @Lagonda ....... I´m only 2-3 hours drive away from you,
if ever needed in the future

I am crossing my fingers !

 

[Reinhard]

Not an IO, but Rhea signal path is the same, power supply and current sources are solid state.

Rhea was in for repair, new tube sockets and upgrade to better coupling caps. Here Mundorf Supreme.

 

[Kcin]

Nice work. The one thing about the Aesthetix product is that they are for the most part one board designs and there is no easy way to service them based on the way they are mounted. I imagine the factory has umbilicals and such for the power transformers so that you can work on them on the bench. With the Io and its power supplies it would be a nightmare.

 

[Aesthetix]

We have a fantastic Factory Authorized Technician for Scandinavia in Stockholm, Sweden. He can be reached at:

karl@stylusaudio.se

Any questions regarding service in Scandinavia can be directed to him, or to me at:

info@aesthetix.net

Our distributor in Sweden is:

Stylus Audio


Jim White
Aesthetix

 

[Lagonda]

We have a fantastic Factory Authorized Technician for Scandinavia in Stockholm, Sweden. He can be reached at:

karl@stylusaudio.se

Any questions regarding service in Scandinavia can be directed to him, or to me at:

info@aesthetix.net

Our distributor in Sweden is:

Stylus Audio


Jim White
Aesthetix

Karl Leander is your distributor, last time my Io broke he sent it to a local repair guy, that could not get a diagram from you. Have you had someone "Factory Authorized" recently ?

 

[Reinhard]

One of my first IO repairs, back in 2003. Had to change all the black Mills Resistors because their resistance was not stable.

 

[Ron Resnick]

We have a fantastic Factory Authorized Technician for Scandinavia in Stockholm, Sweden. He can be reached at:

karl@stylusaudio.se

Any questions regarding service in Scandinavia can be directed to him, or to me at:

info@aesthetix.net

Our distributor in Sweden is:

Stylus Audio


Jim White
Aesthetix

This is great, Jim! This should give Aesthetix owners in Scandinavia comfort about securing service by a factory-authorized technician.

 

[bonzo75]

This is great, Jim! This should give Aesthetix owners in Scandinavia comfort about securing service by a factory-authorized technician.

Karl Leander is your distributor, last time my Io broke he sent it to a local repair guy, that could not get a diagram from you. Have you had someone "Factory Authorized" recently ?

 

[oldvinyl]

This is great, Jim! This should give Aesthetix owners in Scandinavia comfort about securing service by a factory-authorized technician.

A little latitude for the high latitude owners of Aesthetix products.

 

[jjhf1234]

Have an IO Eclipse (w/ VC’s and one PS) that was purchased right around the time they were released and wanted to send it back to Glenn for evaluation and re-tube since it’s been sitting in the box for over a year (simplified system to a Levinson 585.5 w/ phono). Glenn mentioned new transformers and believe coupling cap updates are now available so I’m considering doing those updates, along with new tubes.

Has anyone done these recent updates after having lived with the initial version for years? Guessing even if I just do the tubes I’ll be in heaven since it’s been so long since I’ve listened to it (though the built in phono stage in the Levinson is really nice), just wanted to see if someone could add their experience if they’ve done these updates.

 

[audioquest4life]

I did the partial Eclipse a few years ago and added a second power supply. I owned my Io for about 15-17 years or so before I did the upgrade. The result was literally night and day compared to the previous original IO configuration. I had years of listening experience with my IO to lead to that conclusion. Once I received the upgraded unit back, I was able to discern things that were missing, some background hiss noise and hum that seemed to be ever present albeit at low levels, but still distinguishable. The original configuration still sounded good, the upgraded Eclipse version sounds better.

When I sent the older IO in for the upgrade, I spoke with Glen and he said the new power supplies would be a great upgrade because of the following:
1. Less hum
2. Less noise
3. Quieter backgrounds
4. More efficient
5. Makes music sound better (my words, LOL)

It is worth the time and effort to do the upgrade. You do not have to do dual power supply now and can always wait if you wish to do only one PS now. Even one upgraded PS with the partial Eclipse upgrade is worth the upgrade if you plan on keeping the Io for a long time. There are a few of us on here who are in the same boat...long time owners with a few also doing upgrades.

Search this forum for information about tube rolling. Lots of experiences and differing views. The new Io tubes from the factory are good as long as they last without failures. In my experience, the V1/V2 locations seem to experience factory tube failure more often than other locations. I have used Gold Lion, Siemens, Phillips, and now Sovteks (12AX7LPS in V1/V2 locations).

 

[oldvinyl]

Glenn mentioned new transformers and believe coupling cap updates are now available so I’m considering doing those updates, along with new tubes.

Has anyone done these recent updates after having lived with the initial version for years? Guessing even if I just do the tubes I’ll be in heaven since it’s been so long since I’ve listened to it (though the built in phono stage in the Levinson is really nice), just wanted to see if someone could add their experience if they’ve done these updates.

Yes, these upgrades and other tweaks are covered in prior posts to this thread.

The new power supply caps and new transformers reduce noise and grain in the signal. They also reduce the perception of groove noise. Jet black inky background and more low-level music and ambient cues. I found it to be very worthwhile to replace the caps and transformers.

Ditto everything audioquest4life said above.

 

[Kcin]

I did partial eclipse upgrade which is stealth caps - at the time they changed heater and B+ caps as well. I have always used 2 power supplies with my Io with VC. The Io is in now for all the new transformers and the latest grounding, filament and B+ caps ..

When I did the partial eclipse it was painful until 400hrs or so then-- as stated above.

 

[jjhf1234]

Thanks for the feedback @audioquest4life, @oldvinyl, & @Kcin. While I did own the original IO Signature about 20 years ago, I used a few phono stages between that and the Eclipse, I do recall a nice improvement between the Signature and the Eclipse. Kind of figured the new transformers and caps would be a similar improvement just needed to hear it from personal experiences to make the multi month/few thousand dollar commitment.

Was able to build up a fairly substantial NOS tube collection during those two IO ownerships but still plan to get a full re-tube from Glenn for a new baseline.