Interesting reading - experiences of Aesthetix gear that resemble mine.
mountz - yes Callisto has been on my list also, but there is a limit to how many tube-filled boxes I can have in my system - have to draw the line somewhere. So I use an Einstein The Tube mk2 one-box preamp which does a good job in many ways, even though I suspect that the Callisto and some others - like Atma-sphere MP1 - would do an even better job. I have a pure tube system, and the Einstein is tube too, except for the solid state power supplies - and this has a bit of negative impact. Not much, but some.
handymann - recording LPs remains a bother, even with the Io and Einstein, to get the best output, I have to change cables. The Einstein (unlike the Io) has a tape loop (tape in/out) but it is single-ended (RCA plugs) only. The balanced output (XLR), ordinarily used to the amps, sounds better. The Einstein engineers confirmed this to me. Thereby, I either have to split the XLR out signal (dubious, have not done it), or change cables each time I want to record. Very "purist" but not convenient. I remember years ago when I had a Revox A77 ready; just do it...
Subwoofers? When I paired Aesthetix source components with OTL amplification and bought a speaker system tuned to this, I sold my Velodyne DD18 (the last in a long line of sub integration attempts), and have not looked back. The Audiokinesis speaker system I use consists of four speakers, and none of them go down as far as the DD18 did, but called and collected, used as a unit, correctly placed in the room, I get most of what I had, and without the problems of the sub.
