Bought an Aesthetix Rhea! Tips? Tube suggestions?

Will be getting this very interesting phono preamp next week! Very excited.

Aesthetix : Products : Saturn Series : Rhea Phono Stage



The ability to change loading and gain settings by remote control will be very cool! It also can have 3 turntables plugged in simultaneously with each one having its own loading and gain settings.

10 tubes in all! 5/channel is a lot but also lots of tone-shaping capabilities



It's a used unit with stock tubes but I'll likely replace the two 6922 tubes with Amperex 7308 very soon.

Anybody with experience with these units? Tube-rolling experience?

 

No experience, but that unit has been on my 'dream list' for years. Congratulations!

I can only imagine the fun you'll have changing the loading settings from your listening seat!

 

what happened with the Decade?

 

WOW.......I am impressed! Three tables each with their own loading? Thats incredible.

hey, good for you brother!! Enjoy it.

Yes, put some vintage tubes in that guy. Whats the entire tube complement?

 

I have owned a Rhea almost since they first appeared and have had the updates done by Aesthetix. You will enjoy this unit for sure.
Tried a couple of sets of NOS tubes in it but have come back to the “matched” Sovteks that Aesthetix both supply and recommend.
Take your time deciding what is the correct gain setting. It is not a straight forward choice but will eventually be evident.
After that my advice is to sit back and enjoy (pretty obvious that).

 

Looks sweet! Ballpark price range, new and used?

 

I thought about getting one of these once. I ended up with the Herron VTPH-2 instead, which I still have.

Why are you already worried about tube rolling? Why not give the stock tubes a chance first. FWIW: I tried some tube rolling with my VTPH-2 and ended up back to the stock tubes as sounding best. I'm done throwing away money going down that rabbit's hole.

I would like to know what you think of it after you lived with it a bit.

 

They were $4500 new when I was looking at one about 5 years ago. That was when Musical Surroundings was the US distributor.

 

Sweet!!! That's a classy piece of gear. Let us know what you think.

 

Congrats it's an amazing sounding piece!

 

Congrats! Enjoy! I agree with others...especially with so much to play with on tbe new unit, I would wait before introducing new variables (NOS tubes). Those units sound great with their stock tubes. Ive heard them many times at my local retailer and enjoyed them.

 

I just ordered one too based on the op’s recommendation as we have been conversing via pms for a long time and I trust his opinions. I have a Chinook and it sounds great, but I just got a Soundsmith Zephyr STAR and the max gain I have is 60db and I am having to turn my preamp to about 80% to get the volume I want and I just want more headroom. And MFSL vinyl seems cut at a lower volume and I have a lot of their titles. This has a gain option of 75db and I’m told that’s a significant increase so we’ll see! We’re both getting them at about the same time so it will be interesting to share notes. So, a big shoutout and thanks to Strat for pointing me to it! Gotta love this place even if it’s expensive to hang out here at times! I will be putting my Chinook for sale here when the new one arrives. Had it featured more gain for my low output cartridge I never would have even thought to sell it.

 

You won't need to use the max setting but anywhere between 68-70 will be the sweet spot for that cart... which the Chinook can't provide.

 

Congratulations on your new purchase, the Rhea is an incredible phono stage. My favourite tubes to use by far in mine are the Mullard M8137 dating from the 60's which are their hifi spec ECC83/12AX7's. NOS ones do appear for sale on eBay from time to time although prices are getting high now. The Mullard CV4004 is similar but military grade spec. Out of the other valves I tried, Telefunken, Amperex etc. the Mullards won hands down for me, an immense soundstage and such a lovely tone.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, you're right that the prices are a little out of control. At over $160/tube, it'd be quite expensive to retube the whole unit.

My vast experience with 1950s RCA 12AX7 tubes with long black plates will come in handy as I found 12 NOS ones for $300! A great deal. Also have a couple of guitar amps that'll sound even better with this upgrade too ; my MetroAmps Marshall SuperLead clone and my silverface 1971 Fender Super Reverb.

Looking forward to testing this all out!

 

Yes its a shame about the prices but you do not need to do them all, some of the tubes are far more significant than others. If memory serves (please try this for yourself to confirm) V2 (first gain stage) and V5 (output stage) have far more impact in terms of tube upgrades than the others. The RCA's you have (nice score!) will be really lovely, don't even think about putting them anywhere near your guitar amps, you'll blow them!

 

Nah, they're fine. They're used all the time in Fender amps and I've used them in Marshall amps occasionally. For some reason, lots of people don't know about their magical SQ.

Also, another tube that can be used is the 7058 which is just like a 12AX7 in circuits where the untapped filament isn't used, such as in the Rhea. RCA7058 can be found for cheap on eBay, too.

 

Good to know I'll keep an eye out for those.

 

Mine was $2600 shipped. Dealer claims it has been gone through and the tubes test as new, or close to it. I see only one has ever been sold here, and it went for $3000. It doesn’t look like they are easy to find used so I jumped right on it.

 

Bought a couple of Amperex 7308 for the 6922 slot of each channel. Went the cheaper way but if the Rhea is that picky in regards to noise and microphonics in that slot as I've read and the tubes I just bought aren't performing perfectly, I'll return them and bite the bullet by paying an extra $100 for the Upscale Audio stuff.

 

Best 6922 are RCA label 6922 with gold pins. Box has print Made in Germany. These are early '60s Siemens and may have the Cca .028 grid wire. Mullard 12AX7 long plate is best sounding too.

 

Completely wrong, as usual, but at least, you've been consistent. More generic copy/pasted "advice" from other websites that doesn't apply or is incorrect. I'll stick with my first-hand actual knowledge and will trust those whom I have not repeatedly caught stating all sorts of misinformation, thank you.

The thread specifically asked for experiences from owners. AFAIK, Fisher tube receivers aren't Aesthetix Rhea phono preamp.

 

I bought 5 RCA 7058’s to install and then at least I can compare them. Worst case I have some back up’s if any fail. Anyone have experience with these? A trusted forum member recommended them.

 

Congrats! Only thing I can add is I’ve read where you can damage this unit by pulling a tube too soon after a power down so if you weren’t aware of that I’d look into it further. Can’t offer much more other than it had to to with the caps needing time

I’ve never heard one but was on my list based in reviews and few I know who have/had one. I just bought a Zesto Andros 1.2 and I’m loving it. The unit it replaced was no slouch but this is in another league. I was concerned it would be incremental but not this. Hope same for you and whatever it’s replacing!

Do keep us posted on what you’re hearing.

 

Congrats! What did it replace?