I want to share my experiences and thank Albert Porter for spending time to help me evaluate my system and make some recommendations.
First: The Steelhead although very quiet, detailed and fast, in my system simply was not as musical as the IO Signature. Actually the difference was significant and on different types of music.
Second: Both the Steelhead and the Io have volume controls and I listened to each unit without a line stage with the notion, that I could run the unit directly into the amps and eliminate the expence of a costly line stage. No such luck, in both instances, I was forced to reinsert the Audio Research Line stage, because it added immediacy, a much larger soundstage that extended outside the perimeter of the speakers and a vitality or palpability to the music that was missing.
Third: Changing out the tubes in the IO, in my opinion was an added bonus. To be able to extract more performance from this unit at such a reasonable cost is a deal. Once again Albert's experience paid off.
When I assembled the system initially, I felt that it had the potential to sound very natural and at times a little like live music. The mods we made to the system, in my opinion advances this process.
First: The Steelhead although very quiet, detailed and fast, in my system simply was not as musical as the IO Signature. Actually the difference was significant and on different types of music.
Second: Both the Steelhead and the Io have volume controls and I listened to each unit without a line stage with the notion, that I could run the unit directly into the amps and eliminate the expence of a costly line stage. No such luck, in both instances, I was forced to reinsert the Audio Research Line stage, because it added immediacy, a much larger soundstage that extended outside the perimeter of the speakers and a vitality or palpability to the music that was missing.
Third: Changing out the tubes in the IO, in my opinion was an added bonus. To be able to extract more performance from this unit at such a reasonable cost is a deal. Once again Albert's experience paid off.
When I assembled the system initially, I felt that it had the potential to sound very natural and at times a little like live music. The mods we made to the system, in my opinion advances this process.