Hi,
The Calypso is a great preamp but unless you get the right tubes it can be noisy. I spent a lot of money tube rolling on my Janus--essentially the same, but with phono---before I finally went to Andy at Vintage Tube Services who sent me a couple of Telefunken 12AX7s --around $100 each, if I recall--that solved all my noise problems (the 6922s seem less critical, so given your budget constraint you could start with the 12AX7s). I would strongly advise talking to him--he has retubed many Calypsos--if you want to do it once and do it right. I still use it at low setting and it sounds very alive to me, but maybe I should try the high setting again...
You can find the service phone number for Aesthetix at the Musical Surroundings website, but it is difficult to get hold of a live person (when you do, however, they are great). I find the best way to get in touch with Aesthetix is thru glenn@aesthetix.net.
Best
David
The Calypso is a great preamp but unless you get the right tubes it can be noisy. I spent a lot of money tube rolling on my Janus--essentially the same, but with phono---before I finally went to Andy at Vintage Tube Services who sent me a couple of Telefunken 12AX7s --around $100 each, if I recall--that solved all my noise problems (the 6922s seem less critical, so given your budget constraint you could start with the 12AX7s). I would strongly advise talking to him--he has retubed many Calypsos--if you want to do it once and do it right. I still use it at low setting and it sounds very alive to me, but maybe I should try the high setting again...
You can find the service phone number for Aesthetix at the Musical Surroundings website, but it is difficult to get hold of a live person (when you do, however, they are great). I find the best way to get in touch with Aesthetix is thru glenn@aesthetix.net.
Best
David