Aesthetix Calypso vs ARC LS25 MK2

Well, do to some personal issues in my life I didn't get to spend as much time A-B'ing as I would have liked. And then there's the powering up/down, warming back up, etc. What a pain in the ass. Is it a fair comparison to pull tubes that have been on for a few hours and pop in cold tubes for a listen? Do the tubes need to be on for 20, 30, 60 minutes before they "settle?" Or are they good to go right away as long as the pre is still warm? I'll say it again, what a pain in the ass. But, I did make some headway. I finally settled on the Tungsram 12ax7's, with the GE Longplates (ca.1963) a close second. I quickly ruled out the Brimar's which are smooth and laid back, but I listen mostly to rock and they are a little shy in the bass area IMO. I felt the GE's were decent in the bass, but the soundstage wasn't as wide and open as with the Tung's. Also, one of the GE's would "pop" on occasion, but were overall quiet. But tube noise is no longer an issue with this unit, nice and quiet thank you. I am also ordering two Supra Lorad pc's, one for cdp and one for pre. These are excellent pc's for the money IMO. Very detailed and open sounding. I was only able to briefly put Lorad's on my monoblocks, hence, I really couldn't "make the call."

Thanks to all for the "sound advice" over the last few weeks.

Yes Perfectionist, Tubes take a little time to settle. The single 6922 on my lowly ARC LS2B takes typically 96 hours to settle down to its golden sound each time I start the linestage from dead cold.

Yes Perfectionist, Tubes take a little time to settle in. For my Aesthetix Calypso and Rhea maybe as little as a half hour with some music playing at low volumes. Digital has its place! But I notice a decided richness and fullness several hours of listening in (3 to 4). It seems like the more the better but I would swear on the same thing about my former solid-state gear as well. It would start out a little pale and brittle in the morning and then by that evening... WOW! it would have more soul than brother Ray (Charles). Well, almost anyway. IMHO there isn't a single piece of gear out there that sounds great when it's cold. Cheers!

Perfectionist, now that you have decided on the pre, tubes, and cords - I recommend getting Herbie's tube dampers. For the price, they make a very nice and immediate improvement on the Calypso as well as many other pre's.
I first tried some standard silicone o-rings from NAPA, and the Herbie's are better.

Tgun5, I've heard tube dampeners can sometimes make the soundstage more closed in.
What say you?

More fun...

Well, this pre completely went in the shitter since I reported on 8/29.
Dare I say, almost unlistenable. I'd be better off with a Bose Waveradio at this point.
I wouldn't force my worst enemy to sit and listen to it! (LOL)
And this is over a couple of listening sessions. There is no doubt that the pre is the culprit,
as nothing else has changed in my system, and all other pieces in the chain are fully broken in.

This is most frustrating, so much so that if I had another pre on hand, I'd pull the Calypso out of my system. But I don't have another pre, so I have no choice but to ride this out.
My JC1's went through severe "mood swings" over the 1500 hour break-in period, which I painstakingly logged all hours so I knew what was what. So I can only assume that this pre is still going thru "changes." So, as of last night I'm leaving it on 24/7 with a signal running through it.

I have no clue how many hours are on the Calypso, as I've logged none.
Just reporting what I'm hearing...