Or have Mike make his own comparison, he snuck out of his Io ownership very discreetly !
I would have loved to get his impression, don't be afraid of offending anyone Mike.
my exit from Aesthetix had a few causes, (1) funding my Wadax adventure at that moment, (2) recognition of the size of the three "large" Aesthetix Io Eclipse boxes + four (soon to be five) Wadax boxes (something had to go), and (3) the realization that the Aesthetix, with NOS tubes, was going places that the CS Port was not.....so what was farther down that road?.....EM/IA was. and i was on the hunt for my 'into the sunset' phono.
i bought the Aesthetix used back in Feb 2021, sent it to the factory for the voltage change, and it sat there for 6 months until August when the work got done. so my hifi life evolved in the meantime with the Wadax entering my picture. i tried to make it fit, but alas, it was not in the cards.
without hearing the Aesthetix not sure i would have had the chutzpa to dive into the EM/IA. it opened my eyes. glad i did it. performance wise, for my investment, the Aesthetix was killer.
my impressions of my Aesthetix was that it was big and bold sounding, but just ordinary and a bit dull with the stock tubes. start down the NOS road and things got interesting quick. it opened up, the bass got agile, and much more nuanced. but it was not 'fast' and still quite round and blunted. i know going deep into tube rolling and other enhancements i read on the Aesthetix thread would have improved all those shortcomings. being self aware of my own culture, the odds of me being sufficiently rabid to chase things enough to stay on that path were slim. i was the wrong person for it. time to cut my losses and move on. so i never tasted all that Aesthetix was capable of. and i was offered much hand holding by the Aesthetix Nation.
my particular '
beyond full-tilt' EMIA, now with the MC Trio, is a $46k investment (base EMIA corrector + copper EMIA SUT = around $22k). buying direct. i think it a very good value. i paid all-in $15k (used + getting the voltage converted to 115v) for the Aesthetix. Aesthetix owners should be a happy bunch.