DeVore Silverbacks

Maineiac, the bass on the VAC is awesome. Better than the corton charlemagne monos I tried out, IMO. Think your suggested pairing could be pretty good.

Dhattleton, now I have a goal. I have also been considering the new VAC sigma
integrated. Why didn't you go with Shindo for your pre-amp?

Aesthetix was just as good as the monbrison that I was looking at, IMO. Shindo is great but there are other brands out there that are just as good. The aesthetix maybe didn't have as much soul as the shindo but the detail was better without being analytic. It also pairs well with the VAC. Still very involving but not as "chocolatey" as shindo. The VAC preamps are also suppose to be very good.

I auditioned a Calypso Sig and VAC Phi Beta preamp at home using new model Bryston amps and PMC speakers. The Calypso was excellent but the VAC was a serious step up. Of course, the Calypso is around half the price; the Callisto would be the proper Aesthetix model for comparison and I didn't hear it. The Calypso Sig is a terrific preamp, though, and a very good value. I'm sure it mates really well with the Phi 200 amp.