I also disagree that Xono is sterile and cold. I have not compared it to Aesthetics, but compared to Hagerman Trumpet, and MFA Luminescence. While both tube units do sound warmer and have subjectively a bit more "life", they also luck in control, accuracy and definition. Plus, they need a step-up, and even arguably the best (I have a TX103 copper based unit) introduces distortions and colorations. MFA has enough gain to pull even a .3 mv MC, but noise is high. Even with the AT OC9 in my system Xono does not sound sterile and cold. I guess this may be system dependent.
