Purist Audio Umbilical Cables for Aesthetix Io

Ron Resnick

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Jan 24, 2015
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The Aesthetix Io phono stage connects to one or two power supplies via multi-conductor umbilical cables. Purist Audio, at least for a time, offered aftermarket umbilical cables for this dedicated purpose.

Has anyone used these Purest Audio umbilical cables for the Io?

If so, what differences in sound did you perceive between the Purist Audio umbilical cables and the stock Aesthetix umbilical cables?
 
Last edited:

pweg

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Jun 7, 2014
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Ron - i cant answer ur question other than to say i use an almost full loom of Purist cables and love them. Sound is very dependent on the model - there is not a house sound.

i know, like me, you are very conscious of the upper mids and high frequencies and thats where i fell Purist is really great especially with the copper models
 

tima

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Mar 3, 2014
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The Aesthetix Io phono stage connects to one or two power supplies via multi-conductor umbilical cables. Purist Audio, at least for a time, offered aftermarket umbilical cables for this dedicated purpose.

Has anyone used these Purest Audi umbilical cables for the Io?

If so, what differences in sound did you perceive between the Purist Audio umbilical cables and the stock Aesthetix umbilical cables?

For aftermarket that seems like a very specialized power cable. Have you asked Jim Aud what his goal was in making them and how their use makes a difference from stock?
 

oldvinyl

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Jun 3, 2017
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I got the specs for the umbilical cables and sent them with my cables to Audience. They built a new set that improved the Io’s performance. The new cables are shielded and reduce hum and grunge. Bass is improved as are all others aspects of the sound. Most notable is noise floor reduction compared to stock cable. Well worth the upgrade for long term Io user. I have had the Io for over twenty years - it has been upgraded to Eclipse with 2 power supplies and volume control.

A less expensive upgrade is to use KT-66 in the power supply to replace the EL34. Of course KT-66 is getting harder to find. Also need longer screws and spacers for the top for clearance if the KT-66s are used.
 

audioquest4life

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Sep 23, 2020
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Do you still have the specs for the IO umbilical cord? How did you approach Audience for this request? What was the turnaround time to complete this? My IO is at Aesthetix for a partial Eclipse upgrade with two power supplies. May consider this upgrade but Aesthetix told me they have newer umbilical cords and may replace mine if it is require. I have had the IO since 2006.
 

Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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I got the specs for the umbilical cables and sent them with my cables to Audience. They built a new set that improved the Io’s performance. The new cables are shielded and reduce hum and grunge. Bass is improved as are all others aspects of the sound. Most notable is noise floor reduction compared to stock cable. Well worth the upgrade for long term Io user. I have had the Io for over twenty years - it has been upgraded to Eclipse with 2 power supplies and volume control.

A less expensive upgrade is to use KT-66 in the power supply to replace the EL34. Of course KT-66 is getting harder to find. Also need longer screws and spacers for the top for clearance if the KT-66s are used.

I owned an Aesthetix Callisto Signature for a number of years. I agree with that they are great pre-amps and wanted to second the notion of @oldvinyl and swapping out the EL34's for KT66's. It was a really nice improvement in my system. I only had one PS and used GEC gray glass, late’50’s vintage tubes. Swapping the 6922's and 12ax7's for NOS made a big difference too.

Years ago, I talked with Albert Porter about the umbilical swap, a using Purist made loom. I think I remember that he had also changed his internal wiring to Purist as well. All of this is a bit foggy at this point, but I do remember that the umbilicals were pricey.
 
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oldvinyl

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Jun 3, 2017
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Specific Northwest - Seattle area
Do you still have the specs for the IO umbilical cord? How did you approach Audience for this request? What was the turnaround time to complete this? My IO is at Aesthetix for a partial Eclipse upgrade with two power supplies. May consider this upgrade but Aesthetix told me they have newer umbilical cords and may replace mine if it is require. I have had the IO since 2006.
Do you still have the specs for the IO umbilical cord?
- yes, send me a message, I can email it to you
- if that doesn't work, just let me know if you proceed with Audience, I will send them the specs again

How did you approach Audience for this request?
- I called them and discussed what I was interested in
- I had to send them the info on the wiring connections and connectors needed

What was the turnaround time to complete this?
- a couple weeks when I did it
- my guess is that it depends on what they have in their queue and resources available

The important aspect of the upgraded umbilicals is that each individual wire is shielded, and there is a shield over the whole set of wires. If I recall, they had to figure out how to connect all those shields to ground since it was a rather small space to work in.
 
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OGH

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Looking forward to more listener reports - does the upgrade help the sound or is it marginal.
 

Ron Resnick

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Jan 24, 2015
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It does make sense to me that having an improved shield around the power umbilical cord might reduce noise getting into the audio control unit.
 

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