February 19, 201511 yr Vinnie has released his new modular amp/dac/phono stage/headphone amp device he calls LIO. I like Vinnie at shows but have never owned any Red Wine Audio gear. How does this thing look to the HC tech folks and critics? Discuss. http://vinnierossi.com/
February 19, 201511 yr Kevin and I have been laughing about this garbage for weeks now. His amps are up there with the biggest pieces of fail money can buy and this won't change that.
February 19, 201511 yr as always the devil is in the details, so lets look at this 24V cheapass switcher power supply brick supplies power to the caps. And probably fills the chassis with high frequency hash. 2 banks of caps, one charges, the other supplies power to the unit. Now is this +/-12V, or is this +24V single with the amplifiers capacitively coupled outputs. In either case, headphone output power is pretty limited. How far in voltage does the cap sink before it switches. So the amplifier and the rest of the stuff continuously see's the equivalent of triangle waves on top of the power supply. How often does it switch banks. How well isolated is that switching, and is it audible. What about the fact that all of this is to get rid of power supply noise, and ultracapacitors are electrochemical, and have way more noise than either lead-acid batteries, or well designed power supplies. A solution looking for a problem that can be made to not exist in far cheaper ways. but it does seem to be fairly well built. Edited February 19, 201511 yr by kevin gilmore
February 19, 201511 yr What...it's not a great unit to buy? I just bought 3 of them. I love how he can continue to take your $$$ later on as he releases "upgrades". The gift that keeps on giving....to Vinnie that is.
February 19, 201511 yr More first 2¢ is that I'd like to punch whomever keeps putting those goddamn locking Neutrik headphone jacks on everything. Fme I hate those things. They're ugly and a pain in the ass to use.
February 19, 201511 yr Everyone knows the lockers cost like 3 times as much as the non-locking ones. Cant be skimping out now... And besides, with all the power it takes to run headphones you might just blow the plug out of the socket if its not secured.
February 19, 201511 yr I don't necessarily think a switcher is the end of the world. A) the noise can be filtered, and B ) the noise from rectifiers can be more of an issue. Whether this particular supply is any good, I have no idea. Aesthetically, it looks like it is frowning which seems like a poor marketing choice. Edited February 19, 201511 yr by dsavitsk
February 19, 201511 yr More first 2¢ is that I'd like to punch whomever keeps putting those goddamn locking Neutrik headphone jacks on everything. Fme I hate those things. They're ugly and a pain in the ass to use. I died a little when I saw one on the new Pass Labs headphone amp
February 19, 201511 yr from pictures that have been posted elsewhere including bottom and top of the board, there is no protection on those caps. The manufacturer specifically states that if you put more than 2 in series (and Vinnie is putting 9 in series) you absolutely have to have 3V protection on each and every cap. Because somewhere past 3.1V the cap explodes. $500 in caps for absolutely nothing.
February 19, 201511 yr I like the concept, and I like Vinny himself. He was supposed to bring some LIO stuff to the December meet in NH but he got sick and had to bow out. But technically, if there are issues, that's not good. And, the pricing on most of his products is high, sets off my value alarms...... I had heard one of his amps previously at the store where the meet was held, it actually was the best amp there driving the Audeze LCD-2's; but again, pricey....
February 20, 201511 yr I died a little when I saw one on the new Pass Labs headphone amp Just looked it up - the plug looks really out of place and ugly.
February 20, 201511 yr ...but it has an Italian name in cursive on the front panel. That automatically means it's luxurious.
February 20, 201511 yr More first 2¢ is that I'd like to punch whomever keeps putting those goddamn locking Neutrik headphone jacks on everything. Fme I hate those things. They're ugly and a pain in the ass to use. Lock n LOAD LED?
February 21, 201511 yr I've never owned any of Vinnie's wares. However he has been a frequent supporter of the NY/CT meets where I've had the opportunity to listen to many of his products over the years. They have never offended, and often excelled. At the recent November meet in Stamford, he was showing the LIO, along with his modded Sony HAP-S1 player, using a pair of HifiMAN HE-560 headphones. It was a total pleasure to listen to. Smooth, lacking any evidence of grain yet with plenty of detail. As transparent a headphone-audio experience as I've heard. Although I did not listen to too much other gear that day, Vinnie's setup sounded far superior than: - HifiMAN HM901->HifiMAN EF-6->HifiMAN HE-560 or HE-400i - AK240->Chord Hugo->Inspire IHA-1-AKG K812 - unknown PC-based source->Mjolnir Audio KGSS->Stax SR009 all of which cost at least as much, if not far more than the LIO-based system. How much of that experience had to do with the modded Sony player vs. the LIO powering the headphones, I couldn't say. I guess the value of any audio product above $1k can always be questioned. But Vinnie's products are not anywhere near the stratosphere of the industry. The modular nature of the LIO can be seen as a hedge against obsolescence & permits easy servicing. Also, having so much functionality in one box eliminates the need for expensive interconnects, upping the value proposition I'd think. While I am far from being capable of discussing (or debating) the technical details, all of this seems to make some logical sense. And it bears out in the sonics of what I've heard myself. The build quality of his products is very good & clean. His designs have not put anyone in remotely any danger (to my knowledge). And his customer service has never been called into question (again, to my knowledge). While I am not a fan of ALO, and Vinnie's past association with Ken always perplexed me (not sure where that relationship stands atm). But if Rossi's products fit into a system I wished to put together, and I had the "scratch", I don't think I'd regret pulling the trigger. At the very least, they warrant a listen.
February 21, 201511 yr dont know about the pass, but the big knob is the pass look now. people like things that match.
February 21, 201511 yr The pass amp is probably just an uprated version of the their preamps but one can hope they do something more robust. As for the Rossi crap, the actual amplifier in these is just some cheap chip amp garbage. Think RSA Darkstar but even worse.
February 21, 201511 yr Also, having so much functionality in one box eliminates the need for expensive interconnects, upping the value proposition I'd think. There are still things connected together. Why would bringing the wires outside the box for a moment change whether or not the electrons want to be pampered by Techflex?
February 21, 201511 yr I have to agree with Doug. I personally prefer separates, and if a unit malfunctions it can be replaced individually. That's not to say that all combo type units are necessarily a bad thing.
February 21, 201511 yr Author Ah, but with LIO you can simply pull out a defective or outdated module and replace it. [emoji48]
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