In the town where I grew up there were two places to buy records: a family-owned department store and the local Woolworth's, both long gone. The first record I ever bought, the 45rpm single of Roger Miller's "King of the Road," came from the former in 1965. I was 11 years old.

In the town where I grew up there were two places to buy records: a family-owned department store and the local Woolworth's, both long gone. The first record I ever bought, the 45rpm single of Roger Miller's "King of the Road," came from the former in 1965. I was 11 years old.

With Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio four years old as established media this fall, the two-decades-old Compact Disc medium is still well-established as the primary carrier for recorded music. (Yes, it is experiencing a significant threat from downloadable music files, but that is outside my bailiwick as a hardware reviewer.) <I>Stereophile</I> has therefore been paying attention to the high-performance one-box CD players that are available. In May, I wrote about my positive experiences with the $2950 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/840/">Ayre CX-7</A> and Brian Damkroger favorably reviewed the $2999 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/839/">GamuT CD1</A>, after having followed up his April 2001 review of the $5495 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/">Simaudio Moon Eclipse</A> player in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/index6.html">April 2003</A>.

With Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio four years old as established media this fall, the two-decades-old Compact Disc medium is still well-established as the primary carrier for recorded music. (Yes, it is experiencing a significant threat from downloadable music files, but that is outside my bailiwick as a hardware reviewer.) <I>Stereophile</I> has therefore been paying attention to the high-performance one-box CD players that are available. In May, I wrote about my positive experiences with the $2950 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/840/">Ayre CX-7</A> and Brian Damkroger favorably reviewed the $2999 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/839/">GamuT CD1</A>, after having followed up his April 2001 review of the $5495 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/">Simaudio Moon Eclipse</A> player in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/index6.html">April 2003</A>.

With Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio four years old as established media this fall, the two-decades-old Compact Disc medium is still well-established as the primary carrier for recorded music. (Yes, it is experiencing a significant threat from downloadable music files, but that is outside my bailiwick as a hardware reviewer.) <I>Stereophile</I> has therefore been paying attention to the high-performance one-box CD players that are available. In May, I wrote about my positive experiences with the $2950 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/840/">Ayre CX-7</A> and Brian Damkroger favorably reviewed the $2999 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/839/">GamuT CD1</A>, after having followed up his April 2001 review of the $5495 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/">Simaudio Moon Eclipse</A> player in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/index6.html">April 2003</A>.

With Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio four years old as established media this fall, the two-decades-old Compact Disc medium is still well-established as the primary carrier for recorded music. (Yes, it is experiencing a significant threat from downloadable music files, but that is outside my bailiwick as a hardware reviewer.) <I>Stereophile</I> has therefore been paying attention to the high-performance one-box CD players that are available. In May, I wrote about my positive experiences with the $2950 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/840/">Ayre CX-7</A> and Brian Damkroger favorably reviewed the $2999 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/839/">GamuT CD1</A>, after having followed up his April 2001 review of the $5495 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/">Simaudio Moon Eclipse</A> player in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/index6.html">April 2003</A>.

With Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio four years old as established media this fall, the two-decades-old Compact Disc medium is still well-established as the primary carrier for recorded music. (Yes, it is experiencing a significant threat from downloadable music files, but that is outside my bailiwick as a hardware reviewer.) <I>Stereophile</I> has therefore been paying attention to the high-performance one-box CD players that are available. In May, I wrote about my positive experiences with the $2950 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/840/">Ayre CX-7</A> and Brian Damkroger favorably reviewed the $2999 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/839/">GamuT CD1</A>, after having followed up his April 2001 review of the $5495 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/">Simaudio Moon Eclipse</A> player in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/343/index6.html">April 2003</A>.

Trickle-down technology is a grand thing. It's comparatively easy to build an exceptional audio component when there are no constraints on technology, cost, user-friendliness, or lack thereof, but top designers are now packing more and more of the excellence of damn-the-torpedoes components into more affordable and accessible packages. Which brings us to the Aesthetix Rhea, a tubed phono preamplifier of exceptionally distinguished lineage.

Trickle-down technology is a grand thing. It's comparatively easy to build an exceptional audio component when there are no constraints on technology, cost, user-friendliness, or lack thereof, but top designers are now packing more and more of the excellence of damn-the-torpedoes components into more affordable and accessible packages. Which brings us to the Aesthetix Rhea, a tubed phono preamplifier of exceptionally distinguished lineage.

Trickle-down technology is a grand thing. It's comparatively easy to build an exceptional audio component when there are no constraints on technology, cost, user-friendliness, or lack thereof, but top designers are now packing more and more of the excellence of damn-the-torpedoes components into more affordable and accessible packages. Which brings us to the Aesthetix Rhea, a tubed phono preamplifier of exceptionally distinguished lineage.