NEW SATURN SERIES ECLIPSE EDITION

The Eclipse edition is the next evolution of our industry standard Saturn Series of components. Our all-tube Rhea phono stage, Calypso line stage, and Janus full function preamp were introduced in 2002. The Atlas power amps, a hybrid design featuring an octal base tube input with bi-polar output stages, followed in 2007. Our Saturn Series digital source components are the Pandora DAC and Romulus DAC/CD Player, which recently was awarded the International Press 2015 Award. Aesthetix components all share the attributes of outstanding electrical and mechanical engineering with special attention to Power Supply design, making them the ideal platform for pushing the sonic envelope. The Eclipse upgrades consist of the use of new exotic Stealthcap™ capacitors; electrical upgrades including hand-tuned capacitors, super-matched output devices and distributed node technology; advanced mechanical chassis isolation; and sophisticated electrical signal grounding in the power supply.

First Phase
The first phase of the Eclipse upgrade incorporates numerous Stealthcap™ capacitors in critical interstage and output coupling functions, tailored specifically for Aesthetix Eclipse. Famous for his line of super audio grade components, the StealthCap from Peter Moncrief is tailored exclusively for use in the Saturn Series. Using radical new Stealth Technology™ (patents pending), these caps use exotic new conductors, dielectrics, and exotic composite resins to dramatically reduce reflections. A typical capacitor behaves like a long plate, and the signal's many reflections off the boundaries of this long plate can cause numerous echoes that mask your music.

An excellent example of this is when you stand at one end of a gymnasium floor and your friend stands at the other end. When speaking, the two of you can hardly understand what the other one is saying. Why? The multiple reflections from the gym's boundaries garble the sonic message. As we speak more loudly and dynamically, the problem gets more pronounced. The same reflection problem happens in all typical capacitors.

StealthCap™ cures this reflection problem as the electromagnetic wave that carries your music signal throughout the long capacitor plate is similar to the electromagnetic wave we call radar. The new Stealth Technology in StealthCap™ dramatically reduces corrupting signal reflections in the capacitor plate, just as stealth technology in an aircraft dramatically reduces radar signal reflections. These capacitors bring your Saturn equipment to new levels of performance.

With our Eclipse versions, you'll notice the incredible intertransient silence and the very quiet black background. Lesser capacitors, plagued by internal reflections, add a haze of noise to what should be a black, quiet background.

Experience the amazing transparency of StealthCap™, revealing a wealth of subtle musical information and reproducing rich spatial imaging that you never heard before from your recordings. Hear every musical note and and its transient envelope come into clear focus and articulation with the StealthCap™. StealthCap's focused, tactile coherence gives you a new level of musical realism. You'll enjoy the stunning musical dynamics of StealthCap , the cumulative impact of reducing background noise and enhancing focus, fully capturing the recording's micro-dynamics.

Second Phase
The second phase of the Eclipse upgrade consists of electrical upgrades to the signal path and output stages. In the preamplifiers, high frequency tuning capacitors are installed and hand-adjusted to tailor the frequency response to a tight .1dB standard. The Atlas power amps feature super-matched output devices, lowering certain output stage distortion components by as much as 40dB. In every version of the Atlas, each Bi-polar output device (16 per channel) is supplied power through a copper bus bar design, radically reducing impedance compared to standard circuit board traces. In the Eclipse version, Distributed node film capacitors are added at each output device, further reducing impedance for increased current capacity and improved transient capability.

Third Phase
The third phase of the Eclipse upgrade addresses mechanical isolation and heat dissipation. In previous versions, the transformers are mounted directly on the chassis through a damping material. In the Eclipse version, the transformers are isolated from the chassis using specially designed isolation mounts, dramatically reducing the amount of mechanical vibration introduced into the chassis.

Damping material is added at critical chassis points, particular with large surface areas, which reduces noise added to the system due to airborne or mechanical sources.

All Eclipse Rhea, Calypso and Janus units receive a new power supply, with improvements in heat dissipation capability, overvoltage and spike protection. The casework changes bring the preamps to new levels of articulation and clarity. It also allows each piece to ventilate better, improving longevity and reliability.

All Eclipse Rhea, Calypso, Janus, Romulus and Pandora units feature Harmonic Resolutions Systems' Nimbus Couplers specially made for Aesthetix replacing the four rubber feet of standard units. This upgrade, also found on our Signature units, results in a lower noise floor and more air and space around the instruments.

Fourth Phase
The fourth phase of the Eclipse upgrade is sophisticated electrical signal grounding in the power supply. Since the transformers are no longer electrically grounded to the chassis via physical contact due to their isolation mounts, a single point ground system is now used to ground the transformer cases, significantly reducing the amount of ground induced noise. All Eclipse Rhea, Calypso and Janus units receive a new power supply, which has been refined by improved trace routing to further reduce extraneous noise.

Current Saturn Series products are factory upgradable.

All Eclipse Edition products are shipping now.

Learn more about Saturn Series products available in Eclipse Edition:
ATLAS amplifier
CALYPSO linestage
JANUS full-function preamplifier
PANDORA dac
RHEA phono stage
ROMULUS dac & cd-transport