Aesthetix Romulus tube CD Player/DAC
 

The Aesthetic Romulus CD player and DAC is an interesting product. There are not many tube based CD players or DACs out there, and this one appears to be a gorgeous high-end piece of equipment. Besides the Teac CD transport, the Romulus offers five digital inputs including USB up to 24 bit/192KHz using the latest Burr-Brown DACs. Outputs are balanced and single-ended. Available in black or silver face at $6000.00.


http://www.theaudiobeat.com/rmaf2010...ix_romulus.jpg

Dan...I believe the Romulus goes for $6,500 and there is a DAC-only version (identical except for the TEAC transport) called the Pandora for $5,000. I was intrigued by these new digital pieces, as these are Aesthetix's first foray into the digital world. I actually asked Jim to check them out at RMAF last October but I don't believe he was able to check them out at the time. There is not much feedback (official reviews or forum chatter) on these pieces yet but I will keep a look out for any initial impressions and report back for those interested.

Romulus: http://www.aesthetix.net/images/Romulus.jpg

Pandora: http://www.aesthetix.net/images/Pandora.jpg

I have a renewed interest in the Romulus DAC, and may get one to evaluate.

+1 :thumbsup: Ivan, I would be very interested in what you find. The Romulus is the CD transport/DAC whereas the Pandora is DAC only. I am interested in the Romulus to maintain flexibility on the occasions you just want to spin a silver disc.

I have a call into Aesthetix to check on availability, will keep you posted. :)

From avguide.com

"Given the enthusiasm for next-generation digital sources, it’s perhaps no surprise that the new products handling spinning digital discs were also just as keen to play streamed and downloaded music too. One of the most exciting of these new products was the Aesthetix Romulus/Pandora. It has two names because if you ‘spec’ the product as a CD player, it’s a Romulus, otherwise it’s a Pandora. Either way, it bristles with tech, featuring an asynchronous USB input, a PCM1792 DAC, separate power supplies for every single section you could break out, a pair of 12AX7 tubes in voltage gain mode and a pair of 6922 tubes in follower mode. The fully balanced circuit will set you back close to $6,000 for the Romulus player, $1,000 less for the Pandora. In theory, it’s possible to upgrade Pandora to become a disc player, but Jim White, Aesthetix’ founder, thinks few people are going to go down that route."

Pandora DAC with the optional volume control in black. Run straight to the amps and get to roll some tubes...:thumbsup:

Digital Audio Blog: Aesthetix Pandora tube 24/192 DAC

http://www.avguide.com/sites/next-te...&_interior.jpg
Romulus inside shot
From avguide.com

CEDIA Scene: New DAC/CD Transports from Aesthetix & Simaudio | AVguide

I was very impressed with the architecture of the Aesthetix Rhea Signature when Dan, and I loaded the tubes in it.

The performance however is where it really shines. :yes:

Hi guys, I'm new to this forum and enjoy reading about high end audio. I have most of my system buy my dac and am interested in the Aesthetix, the DCS Debussy, the Berkely Alpha, and the MCD1100 dac. I'm going to demo the Berkely soon, but have had trouble getting any others of these to demo. Has anybody listened to the Panora or Romulus?

Has anyone heard the Aesthetix DAC?