I am not in a position to dispute anyone's technical statement in this or any audio forum, but that said as I am having an ATR refurbished by Mike Spitz, I have a high interest in the capabilities/short comings of the Aria.
Upon seeing Mikel's comment about the issue of trimming/reducing the gain with the Aria, and recalling similar assertions in this forum (by perhaps others, I do not recall) I went right to the source and asked Mike S to comment.
I will not try to recap his remarks, (they were all polite by the way). I will merely say that based upon my understanding of Mike's comments, the issue which Mikel cautions us about concerning the Aria is able to be addressed without taxing the capabilities or degrading the performance of the Aria.
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As with all things, I encourage anyone in any circumstance to go right to the source and ask (as it were) the horse.
For those who care, my front end manufacturer is transistor based and they do not look kindly on mixing their gear with tubes.
I know, I am a heretic as well.
That and the proximity of ATR Services to my home, makes the Aria a logical choice and a good match.
Mike S did not ask me to post this remark.