Aethetix IO Signature Question


Is it a very musical phono stage?
radrog
The IO Sifnature is a wonderful, great sounding phono stage with only one potential issue.
Tubes rush noise. Used with LOMC's it was noisy in my system when I was playing a reasonable volume, so I had to rule it out.
If you play a lower volumes, or can get it to sound quieter with NOS tubes like some owners do, you could be in vinyl heaven forever.
What I mean by noisy is tube rush when used with LOMC's. Using only tubes for 60db+ of gain is very difficult.
I am sure owners of the IO will chime in giving you some options of NOS tubes to reduce or remove this effect, however with the stk tubes i could clearly hear the tube rush in between songs and during quiet parts of songs.
Radrog, I use the Io with a .36mv output moving coil cartridge, use the stock tubes, and don't experience any material tube noise from my listening seat at my normal listening volumes. But keep in mind, the Io generates 80db of gain entirely through active tube gain stages. This is very challenging, so the quality of the tubes in these gain stages is critical. The stock tubes have always worked fine for me.
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