Californian Aesthetix’ valve / tube zero-feedback electronics are “designed to impress you and built to outlast you.” In 2024, seven of their superbly-crafted hi-fi components feature in the Editors’ Choice selections (again!).
The Aesthetix Mimas is “the very definition of what we all seek from an integrated amplifier.” It’s “an old musical soul” that “embodies many of the classic sonic virtues of the golden era of tubes, but with the ease, control and extension that are the hallmarks of today’s finest solid state,” write reviewers.
Two Aesthetix preamplifiers are award-winners. The all-valve Calypso, priced at the lower end of the band, “delivers most of the performance of Aesthetix’ two-box $13,000 Callisto linestage for about a third the price” and effortlessly “competes with the megabuck preamps.” The Janus, priced towards the upper end, combines Aesthetix’ Calypso linestage with a scaled-down Rhea phonostage in a single chassis. It delivers “speed and detail; a low noise floor; precise rhythms; dynamics that are almost reference-caliber; and a laid-back perspective,” while “the quiet background and smooth highs add up to long hours of glorious, fatigue-free listening.”
And, speaking of the Rhea, this “versatile phonostage” with “tons of gain” is another award-winner in its own right – one that “exhibits transient quickness, effortlessness in crescendos and a deep, layered soundstage” and “vividly demonstrates the value of component quality”.
Also awarded is the hybrid Atlas power amplifier (valve input, solid-state output), which is available as a stereo amp or a monoblock. Whichever version you opt for, it is “a sheer joy – both sonically and musically – to listen to” with “a deep and convincing sense of space, lightning-fast transients and high resolution without sounding analytical.”
Moving on from amps, in “another home run for Aesthetix, the tubed Romulus combines a disc player and DAC (USB, AES/EBU, SPDIF inputs) in a highly functional and great-sounding component.” Sonically, it offers “an exceptionally natural sound with a great sense of ease and an expansive soundstage”. It also comes with the optional addition of an innovative volume control that allows you to drive a power amplifier directly.
Finally, the ABCD-1 cartridge demagnetizer, the seventh award-winner for Aesthetix, will effortlessly “restore tone colours and soundstage clarity” by removing stray magnetism from your MC coils.
Find out more about Aesthetix multi-award winning range, and locate your nearest dealer, at www.aesthetix.net
Discover the complete list of Editors’ Choice Award winners in the March 2024 issue of The Absolute Sound.
David Denyer PR | The hi-fi specialist 