I agree with you both about letting my ears decide, but this time around I'm finding it very difficult to find anywhere to audition the gear I'm looking at. And it's not like I live in the middle of nowhere - I live in Boston. There's a dealer in NH who is getting the CJ in a few weeks so I'll get to hear that, but so far I can't find anywhere to listen to the Aesthetix. There are a couple of Aesthetix dealers around, but none of them have the Calypso in stock to audition.
Conrad-Johnson ET-2 vs Aesthetix Calypso
I'm currently running my Reference 3A MM deCapo speakers with a PS Audio GCC 100 integrated amp, but it's time to move into separates I think. The GCC 100 can be used as just an amp so my plan is to get a preamp first and then upgrade to a separate amp down the road. I think I've narrowed it down to either the Conrad-Johnson ET-2 or the Aesthetix Calypso and I'm wondering if anyone has compared these two preamps?