[Vinnie R.]

All,
 
6moons is in the process of reviewing a fully-loaded LIO.
 
Page 6 has been posted, where Srajan is running cans like HD-800s, Audeze, Mr. Speakers, and HiFi Man:
 
http://6moons.com/audioreviews2/vinnierossi/6.html
 
While Srajan's review unit is sans Phonostage, I also recently shipped a LIO to John Darko of Digital Audio Review that has
LIO PHONOSTAGE (sans LIO DSD/PCM DAC).  Otherwise, they both have LIO HPA, MOSFET AMP, and other modules in common.

Srajan requested both the RVC / TUBESTAGE and AVC modules to do a comparison.

More reviews are in the works - just trying to go in the order of which I received interest from reviewers to be as fair as possible (just like I'm
going through the LIO order queue, and currently shipping about 5 LIOs per week). 

I'm looking forward to more customer feedback soon - and THANK YOU in advance for posting (here, or on the Vinnie Rossi forum) ! 

 
Vinnie

 

[groovyd]

Anyone mind translating that 6moon review into english for me?  I just cannot read his reviews and when I try hard enough to just get through them I still have no information about how it performed.  I do like the desktop speakers he has though, what are they and does the LIO drive them?

 

[brhfl]

  Anyone mind translating that 6moon review into english for me?  I just cannot read his reviews and when I try hard enough to just get through them I still have no information about how it performed.  I do like the desktop speakers he has though, what are they and does the LIO drive them?

Completely agree with you re: Srajan's reviews, but just to torment you, here's his writeup on those speakers. They're Boenicke W5SEs, and Srajan did mention driving them in his LIO review - seems there's plenty of juice for them. He said he was running them at around volume level 31 (of 63) using the AVC "

for a pleasant not extreme level." I'm using my LIO in a desktop setup, single-driver Audience speakers, and I usually stay in the low-mid 20s with those. 

 

[Vinnie R.]

  Anyone mind translating that 6moon review into english for me?  I just cannot read his reviews and when I try hard enough to just get through them I still have no information about how it performed.  I do like the desktop speakers he has though, what are they and does the LIO drive them?

 
Hi groovyd,
 
Srajan is still reviewing the LIO (he is up to page 7).  He is currently comparing using the LIO's RVC vs. RVC + Tubestage vs. AVC modules.
 
LIO will have no trouble driving the Boenicke speakers.
 

 

I'm using my LIO in a desktop setup, single-driver Audience speakers, and I usually stay in the low-mid 20s with those. 

 
Hi brhfl,
 
I'd love to hear those Audience speakers one day! 
 
 
I also recommend trying Harbeth P3ESR's for desktop listening.  I have done near field listening with them about 30" from my
ears with LIO, and they certainly cast their spell. 
 
 
Hope to see many of you at CanJam in LA at the end of this month! 
 
Vinnie

 

[Vinnie R.]

 
Quote: Srajan Ebaen / 6moons

 To quote Taoist sage Chuang-Tzu, "easy does it". This applies to box count, functionality, future-proofiness and, first and foremost, value. No matter which direction you approach it from, LIO is a remarkable heavy hitter. As such, it really does write a new chapter in the annals of hifi. It's smart, handsome, changeable and fun. And it's ultra hip in how the community aspect of crowd-sourcing is coded to its DNA. Because of its unlimited modularity, customer requests can flow into it to make the basic platform ever more varied. Rather than being set in stone, this concept is flexible, adaptive and 'open source'. When you add it all up, the conclusion to this lengthy assignment really wrote itself as predestined and inescapable. When all the moons align as they do so very very rarely, we call it a Lunar Eclipse award. That meaning should be pretty self-explanatory!

 
http://6moons.com/audioreviews2/vinnierossi/8.html

All,

I am at a loss for words after reading page 8/8 of Srajan's LIO review on 6moons!  This is the first LIO review and I could not be more pleased, thankful, and honored!  As always, Srajan put in a huge effort from start to finish - but being that his fully-loaded LIO is many products in one, this review was a real tour de force that captured so many facets of LIO.  A BIG THANK YOU to Srajan for all his time and effort, and for capturing what LIO is all about! 

I was also quite humbled to read how LIO was compared to (and held it own in their league / higher price range) with the likes of Nagra's Jazz tube preamplifier, Nelson Pass's F6 and Pass Labs XA30.8 power amps, COS Engineering's D1 DAC/pre, Goldmund's Telo's HPA1 headphone amplifier, and others. 

   

What else can I say?  How about some more thanks:

- I've mentioned this before, but I need to post again a big thanks to John Chapman / Bent Audio.  I approached John with the concept of LIO when it was just a bunch of chicken-scratch on my notebook that I scanned to him.  He helped me realize the PURE-DC-4EVR ultracapacitor power supply, implemented all the LIO control circuitry, remote control and upcoming bluetooth remote control, and so much more!  Without John tirelessly working with me, LIO would not have happened!

- I want to thank everyone who pre-ordered LIO, and everyone that showed interest, enthusiasm and support for LIO!  Thank you for believing in us, and for all your patience waiting for LIO to arrive on your doorstep (I know it has taken a few months longer than was expected - so thanks for hanging in there with me).  It has been a ton of work as you can imagine, but the results hopefully speak for themselves!

Thank you for posting your LIO impressions:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=132609.0

and for posting your ideas/suggestions for future LIO modules:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=130693.0

This is just the beginning - and over the months/years, this is going to get even more exciting for everyone! 

- I need to thank all my Red Wine Audio customers - I have learned a lot from you over the last 10 years, and your feedback
via the forum, email, and phone over the years has fueled what I call an "evolution" in the way I want to do things going forward,
and LIO is hopefully proof of that as well!

THANK YOU!

Vinnie

 

[groovyd]

i'm excited to see how this platform matures... it is very innovative indeed, nice work!

 

[olegausany]

And it really sounds great, this only after about 20 hours of burn in with stock tubes

 

[brhfl]

  i'm excited to see how this platform matures... it is very innovative indeed, nice work!

If you check out the thread Vinnie linked to on AudioCircle, you can see the sort of things that us users and potential customers have been suggesting, and how responsive Vinnie has been. A lot of us are clamoring for a low-watt Class A speaker amp, for instance, as well as a streaming solution, both of which Vinnie has been responsive to - no, excited about - looking into. So, I agree with you, it's going to be very exciting to see where Vinnie takes this. It's all too easy to start a platform like this and then just leave it as is... I don't see that happening here. But, while Vinnie's working on new things, the package as it exists now is already great. Phenomenal sounding piece of kit that's a joy to use.

 

[groovyd]

I might be on board once the LCD-Z comes out assuming it supports the high impedance via OTL tubes module while at the same time supporting my existing T1/LCD-X/XC/... on 2 separate outputs.  No need here for a DAC or speaker amp as I just got an MC-252 hooked up to my D100.  Also whatever it is would have to trump my WA7+tp which i assume the LIO is capable of?

 

[dulty]

Great review, congrats Vinnie! I am also watching this product with great interest.
My main listening will be via tower speakers (relatively easy to drive ones) so the amp section is my main concern. As the power supply has large current capability, it seems the amp is capable of more power than the 2x25w rating suggests. I don't want the added cost of a power amp for more power, so is there any chance of a higher output model in the future for the LIO? 

 

[Vinnie R.]

All,
 
THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK!
We'll be at CANJAM next week in LA, so hopefully many others will have the opportunity to listen to LIO. 

 

 If you check out the thread Vinnie linked to on AudioCircle

 
Here is the link, and feel free to ask any questions in this thread, or over there on the Vinnie Rossi forum:
 
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=46.0
 

 It's all too easy to start a platform like this and then just leave it as is... I don't see that happening here. But, while Vinnie's working on new things, the package as it exists now is already great. Phenomenal sounding piece of kit that's a joy to use.

 
What everyone is seeing with LIO is just the beginning - there will be modules coming out this year that will be AWESOME!  They are in the works, including high-res wifi streaming! 
 
 

I might be on board once the LCD-Z comes out assuming it supports the high impedance via OTL tubes module while at the same time supporting my existing T1/LCD-X/XC/... on 2 separate outputs. 

 
With a high-impedance LCD-Z, you probably could take autoformer volume control module (AVC) and feed it directly into those and get great results - but I would also something killer like 6H30 OTL style headphone output for them!  I hope Audeze comes out with those.  Any word?
 
 

  Great review, congrats Vinnie! I am also watching this product with great interest.
My main listening will be via tower speakers (relatively easy to drive ones) so the amp section is my main concern. As the power supply has large current capability, it seems the amp is capable of more power than the 2x25w rating suggests. I don't want the added cost of a power amp for more power, so is there any chance of a higher output model in the future for the LIO? 

 
Hi dulty,
 
As a speaker amp, I'm driving Harbeth 40.1s (84dB, 6-ohm) with LIO and getting outstanding results!  At AXPONA next month, we'll have the Harbeth SHL5plus speakers in the room (86dB, 6-ohm).  Of course if you are looking to rock the house, you'll probably want more power or fairly efficient speakers.  But what the LIO gives you does *seem* to be more powerful than what the specs suggest when you listen to it, especially  with speakers whose impedance dips to 4-ohm or lower.  I do believe it's the high output current that makes it seem this way.
 
We won't be able to get any more power out of a Class AB mosfet design in the LIO.  We probably could get a little more power from a Class D implementation, but I am not very interested to explore
that at this time.  And hopefully for RMAF time in the Fall, we'll have a separate LIO Ultracapacitor Power Amp (name to be determined) that would output in the >100wpc / 8-ohm (>200wpc into 4-ohm) range. 
 
Why can't we get more power out of a Class AB MOSFET amp inside the LIO?  It has to do with LIO's max supply voltage (not current).  We'd need a larger enclosure than the full-size LIO to fit more caps in series to higher voltage rails = more max output power.
 
Thanks again for all your posts!  Hope to see many of you at CanJam next week!
 
Vinnie

 

[Vinnie R.]

All,

These are the shows that we are definitely exhibiting at this year:

- CanJam SoCal 2015 (March 28-29): http://www.head-fi.org/t/741136/canjam-socal-2015-march-28-29-2015-only-2-days-away#post_11021551

- AXPONA (April 24 - 26): http://www.axpona.com/

- New York HeadFi Spring Meet (May 2nd):  http://www.head-fi.org/t/743424/official-new-york-spring-meet-sat-may-2nd-2015

- Tokyo HeadFi Fujiya Avic (May 16 - 17): http://www.fujiya-avic.jp/user_data/headphone_fes.php

- Newport Beach (May 29 - 31):  http://theshownewport.com/

- New York Audio Show (Nov 6 -

  http://www.chestergroup.org/newyorkaudioshow/2015


Not definite, but likely shows we'll be at:

- Capital Audio Fest (Aug 28 - 30):  http://www.capitalaudiofest.com

- RMAF (Oct 2 - 4):  https://www.audiofest.net/


We're looking forward to all of them and hope to see MANY of you there!
 
Vinnie

 

[jvazquez]

Hi Vinnie,

I'm planning to get a LIO with the MOSFET power amp and pair it with a KEF LS50. These speakers are known to be quite inefficient so that I wonder if they fit well with LIO.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Juanjo

 

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Vinnie,

I'm planning to get a LIO with the MOSFET power amp and pair it with a KEF LS50. These speakers are known to be quite inefficient so that I wonder if they fit well with LIO.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Juanjo

 
Hi Juanjo,
 
Welcome to headfi!
 
The LIO works very well with the KEF LS50s (as well as Harbeth P3ESR's, which I am using near field).  You will be surprised!
 
Vinnie

 

[jvazquez]

Hi Juanjo,

Welcome to headfi!

The LIO works very well with the KEF LS50s (as well as Harbeth P3ESR's, which I am using near field).  You will be surprised!

Vinnie

Thank you Vinnie for your quick answer and keep up the good work!