Aesthetix Io vs Lamm LP2

Gladstone, I like your explicit reasoning. Next thing ya know, you'll be giving us some ridiculous advice like "Buy Maggies and have them modded" or "get an HR-X with a Colibri" or, worse yet, "have Rives design you a room!" Sheesh!!!! :-) Hey Jacob, I will let you know soon about getting out to hear your system!

On the Io issue, Rich, as you may remember, I have owned and reviewed the original Io. I have also owned the Lamm and the Signature Io but that was in my former system. I currently have a Manley Steelehead with another Io Signature (already broken in) arriving tomorrow. I can let you know my impressions of that Io Sig in a few days. My memory of both the Lamm and Io coincides with Rcprince's advice, they are BOTH world class phono stages and most likely lateral moves and your preference will be dependent on a number of things including, room, system synergy (including table and arm), your listening preferences, and, as you know, your ability or desire to tube roll with the Io. I can tell you that the Signature is better than the Io and has Roderstein resistors which, IMHO, outperform the Mills from the original Io and provide greater reliability (see the Aesthetix site to read about Jim's lawsuit with Mills and how defective resistors may have been the cause of some Io owners' concerns over its reliability). Moreover, with the upgraded caps in the Sig it seemed to provide better space, dynamics, subtle detail and extension over the ooriginal Io when I had it in my former system.

OTOH, I really liked the finesse, delicacy and refinement of the Lamm and, over the original Io, lowered noise floor(not to mention the single chassis and lower amount of tubes in the Lamm). However, as people have noted, the single gain setting and single loading setting can be a problem in some systems.

Hope this helps.

Just got home at midnight from a concert and too pooped to pop right now (yeah, I know, I'm gettin old!). Will report back tomorrow!

Well Jacob, usual disclaimers apply. This opinion is based on MY tastes, MY system, MY preferences and in MY room!

That said, the Io Signature has restored my love of vinyl (which as you know, has been waning of late). For MY money the Io Sig bested the Manley quite convincingly. Yes, there are some negatives, but hey are quite easy to live with - tube rush, size and heat.

Sorry, I am getting dragged away and will add more in an hour or two.

This is true. But I wanted to first compare them head to head with stock tubes. I also know tube rolling can benefit the Io albeit at a much higher price. I'll call ya.

Jacob, here is what I posted in a response to Rayhall about my impressions of the Manley versus the Io Signature:

Rayhall, I do not know if you are still following this thread but here are my initial impressions of the Aesthetix Io Signature versus the Manley Steelhead (both the latest versions).

First, my usual disclaimers: my opinions are simply that, they are based on MY tastes, with MY system, in MY room, based on MY past experiences and MY preferences as heard through MY ears!!

That said, I let the Io warm up for a few hours before listening. I also used both units with stock tubes (even though I KNOW that they can both be changed/improved/tuned to individual tastes with NOS tubes. I also set both at or near the same impedance usuing the exact same system and ICs and power cords to ensure nothing else new contributed to the sound.

For my money, the Io restored my faith in vinyl which had begun to wane. The Io Sig, IN MY SYSTEM, bettered the Manly fairly convincingly for what I value. It was much more dynamic, it had better transient attack, better image focus, bigger soundstage (both height and width) and was, to my ears, truer to the timbre and tonality of instruments. The music just seemed more effortless and less congested. Now I am told by friends I trust that you can drastically improve the Manley with some esoteric tube rolling (especially to improve dynamics) but I will leave that to Gladstone to fill you in on.

I am now going to tube roll with the Io but at a MUCH higher price due to the sheer number of tubes and will report the results (thanks Bruce and Albert for the tips!).

Down sides? Yup. The Manley is $1,700 less than the Io, the Manley is smaller and the Io produces more heat. Also, there is that old tube rush at highder volumes with the Io that some people do not like. For me, I don't hear the tube rush when the music is playing and the real estate and heat issues disappear when that cartridge hits the LP!!

My good friend Brian who is as sick as I am put it best when he said "it just sounds right!" I have felt like an Audio Goldilocks the last two years - "this phono stage is TOOOO this and that phono stage is TOOO that and this cartridge is TOOO this and that cartridge is TOOO that."

Well, this combo (Dynavector XV-1s and Io Signature) is JUUUUUST right for me!