I gave up on portable amps/DACs a few years back too. Mostly for the same reasons.

Yes, Ken Ball is ALO, but he was doing some stuff with RWA in the past. Vinny Rossi of RWA is really good people and great fun at meets and audio shows. Other than my iMod, which I have used for years quite happily, I have never been too impressed with his stuff. I don't begrudge him, however, because it sounds decent and is accessible to non-audiophile types and he has done pretty well.

Agreed.....Vinny started out years back doing mods, and he and one other gained fame for their Samsung/Toshiba DVD player mods which did great jobs on getting better sound from them (I still have an old Toshiba that had some of the mods he designed/recommended; it sounded very good for real cheap $). IIRC, I had one brief email exchange with him, and indeed he was gracious and quick to reply to what I'm sure was a pretty stupid question.

I also don't begrudge him his success, I just will never pay those kind of prices for the products. I haven't paid too close attention, but I don't think he tries to sell it off with really wild claims, just wild pricing.....

Edited December 4, 201114 yr by skullguise

Yeah, I seemed to recall his name from reading mods on audioasylum IIRC. Seemed like a nice guy at the time, and the mods seemed plausible and not idiotic (like putting crystals on shit, etc.).

I guess if he can get those kinds of prices and the users seem to like the product, then fine. I hear you on me paying that kind of money for what he is providing however.

My issue with this is the age old story of taking something cheap, putting it in a nice box, shower it with BS about modding etc. and then sell it on for a far higher price. People might like the end result but have they ever tried the stock amp in a blind setting? Hell, have they ever tried the multitude of cheap T-class amps you can get from China, some of which are rather nice for the price.

Red Wine Audio has to be worst name in the industry.

Red Wine Audio has to be worst name in the industry.

Says "Susan1"...

I wonder what industry does he/she/shkle represent...

It certainly stains more than White Wine Audio.....

I'm just psyched that she joined today and jumped right into the fray with an insightful comment.

Someone just googling 'red wine' in the morning and got pissed that she found our thread...

I wonder if she is from here in Manhattan, since we just had Wine in the Wild which by chance featured a red wine. Hmmmm.....

This must be one of the most moronic trolling acts I've ever witnessed.