Pedrillo et al,
I am fairly certain that the Aesthetix Rhea does NOT contain a balanced phono amplification circuit. The Io does. I am also dubious about the Aqvox (read the promos carefully) and the PS Audio GCPH. (Someone will no doubt correct me if I am wrong.) All of these offer XLR inputs or outputs or both, but they are not necessarily balanced internally. As has been written here ad nauseam, if the internal circuitry is not actually balanced, there is little to be gained by using XLR connectors. I researched the Pass Xono, but I never could figure out whether it was true balanced or not.
I am fairly certain that the Aesthetix Rhea does NOT contain a balanced phono amplification circuit. The Io does. I am also dubious about the Aqvox (read the promos carefully) and the PS Audio GCPH. (Someone will no doubt correct me if I am wrong.) All of these offer XLR inputs or outputs or both, but they are not necessarily balanced internally. As has been written here ad nauseam, if the internal circuitry is not actually balanced, there is little to be gained by using XLR connectors. I researched the Pass Xono, but I never could figure out whether it was true balanced or not.