I just purchased a used Aethetix Io and the previous owner is a super-tweaker. He sets up turntables for various companies around the North East. Anyway, although he replaced the tubes once, according to him, the biggest improvement to the Io was using copper shielding foil on all of the transformers. Although I haven't done the AB myself, I trust his expert opinion on this. I figured that leaving it in place could only make things better. He also upgraded some of the internal wiring to Audio Note silver.
Aesthetix Io-Reliability Problems???
I have heard recently from several sources that the Aesthetix Io phono stage has reliability problems and that it runs through tubes very quickly. What has been the experience of Aesthetix Io owners? What types of failures have occured? Are there any non-owners who know the details of the problems? Since I am interested in the Aesthetix Callisto linestage, which is much simpler and carries fewer tubes, I would like to know if the problems with the Io extend to the Callisto as well. Thanks in advance very much for your help.