Aesthetix Io Sig vs Manley Steelhead-opinions pls

I cannot comment on the Manley, however, the Aesthetix IO Signature is an outstanding device when you desire an all out assault on vinyl. It leaves me missing nothing. I have seen various posts in this forum about IO versus other phono stages, the one most common trait is that the IO gives you outstanding dynamics, stage and width. Others have commented about some tube rushh, hey this is all out tube unit BTW, well, I do not notice any tube rush as a detractor to any of my listening sessions and what there is of any tube rush could only be heard at 0300 on the volume control, unreasonable listening levels by any measure.

I use the stock Sovtek tubes and will dabble in tube rolling when these start to show their age, but for right now the stock tubes are great. One other note, the Manley Steelhead was a close second on my list.

If you have the space for the IO, I would think that would be the last component you would ever think about upgrading.
Ciao,
Audioquest4life

I just re-read my posting about the three strengths of the Callisto Signature and realized that none of the three were directly related to the actual sound of musical notes.

You've probably seen Chinese brush paintings where the subject matter is typically bamboo and the medium for the painting is simply black ink? What makes one painting great and another poor is not primarily the representation of the bamboo nor the appearance of the black ink, it is nature of the white space, the empty space, around the black ink.

Dear Exlibris,
Oy!
I think you've been sipping the same suspect brew that used to affect HP's conceptual powers in strange ways. But, I got it (I think).

...the Tao of high fidelity :^)

It so happens that on the wall of my office, I have a Chinese letter painting that depicts the Chinese name bestowed upon me by my friend who created it, in black inkbrush. The white background is printer paper from Staples. Wonder how THAT sounds. Sorry this is off-topic.