Aesthetix Rhea Verses the Signature

HI All,
I currently have a Rhea. I like it a lot. All of my cartridges are in the .2 mV to .4 mV range. I'm wondering if any of you have made the transition to the Signature and what do you think. What cartridge are you using with it? Output voltage?

Thanks, Sparky

mep said:

Sparky-Since you are so enamoured with ARC gear in general and your ARC SP-11 and D-250 in particular, I'm surprised that you don't like the phono stage of the SP-11. And I'm further suprised that if you don't like the phono section of the SP-11 that you didn't buy an ARC phono stage.

Click to expand...

HI mep,
Sharp observation on your part. Actually, I loved the phono stage on the SP-11. It's the best I had ever heard. But there was a lingering doubt in my mind that caused me to want to experiment. In the SP-11, the first amplification stage in the phono portion is an FET. The FET was one of the reasons the phono section was so dead quiet with low output cartridges. While I had no reason to not like it, I wanted to see if an all tube design would be better.

I had read a lot of good things about the Rhea and I was very impressed with its features. I had a need for two phono inputs and the SP-11 only had one. So, one way or the other, I was faced with having an outboard phono stage. Why not a Rhea? All that I had read indicated that its signature might go well with the SP-11. But you never know until you try.

So, I jumped on Audiogon and found one at a very reduced price. The price was good enough that I knew I could sell it with no trouble if I didn't like it and get my money back.

Well, things worked out very well. I liked it a lot. I liked the sound, and its flexibility was what all phono preamps should have.

Comparing the Rhea to the SP-11 was interesting. The Rhea was better but not by much. It was not as quiet. But its basic presentation was first class and noise was not a problem. The biggest surprise was how well the SP-11 stood up to the comparison. As I had always thought, the SP-11 phono stage was world class. In truth, if it were not for the fact that I needed an outboard phono stage, I would not have kept the Rhea. It was not that much better and I could have used the money elsewhere.

So, that's it. Now I want to know if the Rhea Signature upgrade is worth the money. The reviews have pretty much been raves.

But here is the real reason, I whisper. By not selecting an ARC phono stage, I was simply trying to demonstrate to you that I'm not dogmatic with my tastes.

Sparky