I've always lusted after Vac phonostages, but haven't made the leap. Same with Aesthetix. Aesthetix worried me to have to always be chasing tubes and noise. Went Allnic and I could not be happier. Possibly last phonostage I'll need. But you are in a very good spot and really are going to have a hard time going with the wrong phono.
I need help regarding tube phono preamplifiers
To the Audiogon community. I am currently considering one of three possible all tube phono preamps to incorporate in my two channel system. The three phono stages are 1.Aesthetix Rhea phono preamp 2.Zesto Andros Deluxe II phono stage and 3. Vac Renaissance phono preamp. I will incorporate the stand alone phono preamp into my McIntosh C48 preamp and utilize a Clearaudio Performance DC turntable with a Clearaudio Universal tonearm and Kiseki Purple Heart phono cartridge. If anyone has experience to help me compare the differences between these phono stages I would greatly appreciate the input. Thanks.