[KB]

ALO is proud to deliver the amazing new Red Wine Audio Isabella Preamp

We will carry 3 variants.

The Isabella Preamp with DAC

OR

The Isabella Preamp with Headphone Output

Or the

The Isabella Preamp with DAC and Headphone output; I have had exclusive trials with the preproduction Isabella DAC and Headphone output I can vouch here that this unit is a uniquely superior headphone amp like no other. The Isabella is a SLA battery powered (ultra clean - NO line noise) tube preamp. Comes with a remote control so if your into headphones this is the last stop in headphone audio excellence.

ALO will be offering for free - one ALO RCA to RCA interconnect with the purchase of any Red Wine Amp. Also ALO will be offering a bundle Ultrasone Edition 9 ALO modified version featuring the new ALO Cryo Silver SXC Audiophile Wire as a special bundle with the purchase with the Isabella DAC with Headphone output. Email me for further details at audiolineout@gmail.com. Stay tuned for photos and details.

Introducing the Red Wine Audio Isabella - a reference-level, battery powered vacuum tube line-stage preamplifier created for music connoisseurs seeking a sublime listening experience, dependability, and value. We meticulously designed the Isabella to greatly enhance any high quality two-channel music system by offering the listener an emotionally involving, natural, and effortless musical presentation.

The heart of any line-stage preamplifier is its power supply, and the Isabella's heart is pure using high-current sealed lead-acid (SLA) batteries that allow all the nuances of the music to emerge with remarkable integrity. Because the Isabella uses no transformers, rectifiers, power cords or any form of dependence on the AC power grid during playback, the Isabella frees your music from the entire AC to DC conversion process and the associated electrical noise and hum problems that hinder the performance of conventional vacuum tube line-stage preamplifiers.

Inside the Isabella is a unique design that reflects our philosophy in using carefully selected and tested premium parts, short signal paths, and going "off-the-grid" with battery power. On the outside you will enjoy simple yet elegant aesthetics and superb build quality that matches our award winning Signature 30.2 and Signature 70.2 amplifiers. Every Isabella is proudly hand-made in the USA and carefully tested, inspected, and packaged before making its journey to our highly-valued and satisfied customers.

Features

* Two 6922 dual triode tubes (one per channel)
* 3 sets of analog inputs and 2 sets of analog outputs using premium Vampire RCA jacks
* Remote volume control using motorized Alps potentiometer
* Hi/Low gain select switch to maximize volume control range in various systems
* Sliding glass window on top cover for easy tube access and visability
* Separate linear voltage regulation stages for B+, tube heaters, input select relays and optional dac (see below)
* Only one premium paper-in-oil capacitor in signal path
* No transformers, no rectifiers, no DC-DC converters, no ribbon cables or connectors in the signal path
* Auto-mute delayed turn-on sequencing (approx. 40 seconds) to allow for adequate tube warm-up and stabilization and to eliminate turn on/off transients

SMART module equipped

The Isabella features a Red Wine Audio innovation - the SMART module (SLA battery Monitoring and Auto Recharge circuiT). This is a custom-designed circuit board continuously monitors the voltage of the internal SLA batteries. If the voltage drops too low, the SMART module automatically turns off the Isabella and begins the battery recharge process for you.

With the SMART module, any user concern of accidentally damaging the internal SLA batteries by forgetting to turn off the Isabella is eliminated.

Battery / AC power mode selection switch

The Isabella also features a switch to allow for continuous operation from the external SLA battery charger for "non-critical" listening such that the battery charging and listening can occur simultaneously. While running direct from battery power offers cleaner power, blacker backgrounds and no chance of ground loop hum, we added in significant filtering to the external power input to ensure listening in this mode still results in excellent sound.

Read the 6 moons preview here




Please email me today to secure your order today.
Audiolineout@gmail.com

 

[Covenant]

OMG. I WANT

Is there an introductory price for these Ken?

 

[KB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Covenant /img/forum/go_quote.gif OMG. I WANT Is there an introductory price for these Ken?

Hey Covenant,

The price of the units are what Vinnie asks me to sell them at but I can certainly sweeten the deal with the really really good interconnect for free, or deep discount on pretty much any other cable I make. So while you can buy these items direct from RWA I will for a period of time be offering the interconnect with the units. I will get some photos up soon as I have a whole new line of ALO interconnects using the new ALO Cryo SXC wire.

Isabella Preamp W/ DAC is $5500
Isabella Preamp W/ DAC and Headphone Output is $6000

If you did not read the 6 Moons preview please do so, this is a world class product.

Thanks for the post.

Ken

 

[Covenant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KB /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you did not read the 6 Moons preview please do so, this is a world class product. Thanks for the post. Ken

Oh I did. God damn Vinne. Why'd he have to make something like this? My wallet already hates me

By the way, there doesnt seem to be many pics of the version with headphone output...

 

[KB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Covenant /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh I did. God damn Vinne. Why'd he have to make something like this? My wallet already hates me By the way, there doesnt seem to be many pics of the version with headphone output...

I know what you mean, I bought one as well... added to the collection and its easy my reference headamp not to mention regular amp. Yeah the headphone output is new-er. I will get some photos up soon of that.

Thanks

Ken

 

[n_maher]

I don't mean to pooh-pooh what otherwise looks like a very fine design but it always strikes me as more than just a little bit of a bad idea to carry anything but audio on an XLR. What's worse is that in this case the XLR is the same as what a balanced audio input would be so the confusion seems all the more likely when hunting through the web of cables behind a rack. Not only is it potentially bad for this amp but could be downright disastrous if you plug the power supply into an audio jack on another component.

 

[grandenigma1]

heh... I saw the single XLR input over by the other digital inputs and thought it was an AES/EBU input... I would have been sadly mistaken.

 

[KB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_maher /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't mean to pooh-pooh what otherwise looks like a very fine design but it always strikes me as more than just a little bit of a bad idea to carry anything but audio on an XLR. What's worse is that in this case the XLR is the same as what a balanced audio input would be so the confusion seems all the more likely when hunting through the web of cables behind a rack. Not only is it potentially bad for this amp but could be downright disastrous if you plug the power supply into an audio jack on another component.

Sure... but it does say "CHARGER" above the lone XLR. I dont know about other people but I am pretty careful about what I plug stuff into on my rack.

kb

 

[n_maher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KB /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sure... but it does say "CHARGER" above the lone XLR. I dont know about other people but I am pretty careful about what I plug stuff into on my rack. kb

Ken, you and I may be careful but as you said there's no accounting for who the end user is. But my point wasn't so much that you might plug an audio cable into the charger, that'd probably be a pretty benign mistake, the real issue that I see is that the power supply is terminated with a male XLR which a) is the same plug that an input would take and plugging that power supply into another component's input by accident could yield some pretty bad results and b) it means that there's live voltage on exposed pins which in the design world that I've been taught is a bad idea at any voltage level.

 

[Vinnie R.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_maher /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ken, you and I may be careful but as you said there's no accounting for who the end user is. But my point wasn't so much that you might plug an audio cable into the charger, that'd probably be a pretty benign mistake, the real issue that I see is that the power supply is terminated with a male XLR which a) is the same plug that an input would take and plugging that power supply into another component's input by accident could yield some pretty bad results and b) it means that there's live voltage on exposed pins which in the design world that I've been taught is a bad idea at any voltage level.

Hi n_maher,

Thank you for your concerns.

The SLA battery charger that we use comes stock with the XLR plug. It is a very thick cable and would be pretty hard to mistake it for an interconnect (unless you are carelessly switching cables in a room with poor lighting). I suppose anything is possible. The Isabella comes with a detailed User's Manual and there are just some things in this world that require some level of attention and care - and I suppose this is one of them. If one is very concerned that they will have a problem with this XLR plug/jack battery charging system, perhaps this product is not the best choice for them. It is extremely easy to use and none of our customers have had any problems with this (we use it in our Signature amplifiers and there are a few hundred of them being used around the world).

Regarding the XLR plug on the charger side, the pins are deep inside of the XLR plug's body, and not exposed to any degree to be of concern. If one tries to stick a metal object into the body of this XLR plug, I suppose that would not be very smart. Otherwise, it is no need for any concern and this is not some sort of design blunder from the battery charger manufacturer. In the case that the pins were in fact shorted, the charger goes into protect mode (short circuit protection).

Best regards,

Vinnie

 

[n_maher]

I appreciate the explanation Vinnie.

 

[matt8268]

I must say, the Isabella looks to be a near perfect combo of everything you could want in an all-in-one headphone solution. Takes USB straight to I2S in a non-oversampling DAC, tube amplification, remote control, and all running on ultra-clean battery power, but it can also run while plugged in. Plus it has toslink and coax inputs, meaning it can also be used with any flavor of digital source you may have.

I'm anxiously awaiting folks' listening impressions of this. $6K is up there, but this single unit could replace 3 units I'm currently using (USB to SPDIF converter, DAC, and headphone amp).

One question: Is there any way to get an analog RCA out from the DAC before the signal goes through the preamp? I'm guessing no, but that would be sweet, as it would allow me to feed that into my Stax amp when I'm listening to my electrostats. That is unless of course an optional "Electrostat Headphone Output Stage" is in the works. I think that defies some physics principles, but a boy can dream.

 

[Vinnie R.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt8268 /img/forum/go_quote.gif One question: Is there any way to get an analog RCA out from the DAC before the signal goes through the preamp? I'm guessing no, but that would be sweet, as it would allow me to feed that into my Stax amp when I'm listening to my electrostats. That is unless of course an optional "Electrostat Headphone Output Stage" is in the works. I think that defies some physics principles, but a boy can dream.

Hi Matt8268,

Thank you for your feedback and your question.

It is definitely possible to tap the output signal from the dac and wire it to a pair of RCA jacks that can be installed. This would be a custom modiification that we would have to perform.

The unit would still work exactly as it does in its stock form, but you can grab the analog output from the dac before it reaches the tube preamp stage. It would sound and function identically to this:
Red Wine Audio Isabellina

I would still highly consider feeding the Isabella output (go through the tube preamp stage) to your Stax amp!

Quote:

That is unless of course an optional "Electrostat Headphone Output Stage" is in the works. I think that defies some physics principles, but a boy can dream.

While we have not looked into it (nor were we planning on offering it), it is actually possible to implement using a DC-DC converter. What kind of voltage is needed for the electrostat bias? 500Vdc? I assume it is very low current, and there are good quality, low power DC-DC converters out there....

If there is enough interest, anything is possible

Best regards,

Vinnie

 

[mikaronni]

That would be a very neat product if the Isabella had a Stax output. Though I do not have electrostatics nor the money for an Isabella, I think I would head in that direction eventually. There do seem to be a lot of Stax fans on this forum and some interest from them could probably be generated.
Hopefully I'll be able to audition a pair of electrostatic headphones. Based on all the descriptions, I think it's for me.

 

[KB]

ALO special package deal. I only have one of these packages. - Own one of the worlds best open back headphone with one of the top headphone pre-amps.

GS1000 (mint condition in box) with a RWA Isabella DAC / Headphone Out

Package deal HERE