[LARRY KYOTO]

From reading all your posts, it sounds like that you are listening more than ever with LIO.  Less complexity, less clutter - more listening! 
Vinnie

I feel that I'm in tune with many others here when I say that you are right on; giving us LIO has indeed increased my listening time & enjoyment.
Domo arigato Vinne~chan!

[postman131]

I have thoroughly enjoyed owning the LIO for 6 months.

 Configuration:      AVC/Tubestage
                           MOSFET amplifier
                           DAC
                           Line-level Inputs
                           Headphone amplifier

 
Previous equipment:   Proceed AVP2 preamplifier
                                 Butler amplifier
                                 Anedio D1 DAC


Speakers -  Triangle Antals .
Headphones - Oppo PM-2.
Listening room is small (10x14ft)
Source is a Windows laptop running JRiver.

The appeal of the LIO –           Simplicity of one unit.
                                             Off the grid power.   
                                             I can customize the LIO and replace the modules myself.
                                             Any future improvements are easily added.                                     
                                             Everything about the  LIO is  high quality .     
                                             Ten year warranty.      
                                             Vinnie is great to work with and if there are any questions or
                                                    problems, he is right there to help you.   
           
Most importantly, all my music sounds really  good.  The system is now much more engaging. 
I’m even enjoying my older music on less than ideal recordings.

I’ll also chime in here to agree with other owners that the noise from the capacitor banks
switching is not an issue.  I listen at low levels and the only time I hear it is when the LIO is muted.


Steve

[Timbana]

I've shared my excitement with/love for my LIO in a couple of other threads, but thought I'd re-post and update in this thread.

I bought my LIO a little over a year ago, being intrigued by the LIO concept and early industry buzz. I was a little nervous about ordering my LIO without having heard one, especially since I first needed to sell some components I had been very happy with. In my previous system, I'd gone all out on power conditioning (Bybee Stealth Power Conditioner and Lessloss Reference and Signature cords) to feed an Ayon Orion II and an Ayre QB-9 DSD. Interconnects were Wywires Platinum . . . and I had assembled the system through much trial and error to deliver the sonics I wanted.

In deciding to order the LIO with RVC and tube stage module, I figured I would have a fair amount of flexibility to be able to tailor the sound to my liking through tube rolling. I've been using the LIO, with Telefunken E88CC's to drive Audience 2+2 speakers, and I'm not looking back, which is saying a lot considering my level of satisfaction with the previous system. The LIO/Audience combo rings all the right bells for me: focused, pure, tonally dense, transparent and dynamic. In addition to great sonic performance, the LIO is very attractive . . . from the basic design, to the top cover logo to the Vinnie Rossi insignia, every detail is tastefully executed.

Owning the LIO also helps feed an ongoing process of simplifying my life. It's calming to replace the clutter of multiple power cords, interconnects and component boxes with a single box. And, it didn't hurt at all that, after replacing my other components and cords with the LIO, I walked away with approximately $6,500 in my pocket . . . and a system that I prefer.

I later upgraded to the AVC/tube module, which was another step up from the RVC based module, and continue to use my LIO to drive Audience 2+2 speakers. A few other changes in the past several months have progressively enhanced my listening enjoyment: 1) New V2 drivers from Audience for the 2+2's, 2) Upgraded speaker cables from Au24 SE to SX, and 3) Changed from supporting the speakers on brass cones to using constrained layer damping between the speakers and stand platforms; the stands are heavily damped with lead shot/micro bearing fill in the lower portion of the pillars, and lead shot/sand in the upper portion; I sandwiched a layer of Herbie's Audio Lab dB Neutralizer between the speaker bottoms and the solid birdseye maple platforms (bonded in compression with removable silicone adhesive). Each of these changes brought meaningful improvements and, taken as a whole, the pure, natural music they yield never fails to put a big ole' grin on my face. The purity that results from coupling full-range drivers (no crossover artifacts) to the LIO (clean, natural sound with no power supply hash) is addictive.

As much as I love my system as is though, I recently ordered the DHT Pre module and the microRendu modification for my LIO DAC module. I'm very excited to hear my system with those additions, having read Vinnie's comments about them in the forum and having learned to trust that, when Vinnie promises a significant improvement, he delivers in spades!

In closing, I want to thank Vinnie for sharing his vision, execution and superb customer service. Much appreciated, and much respected!

Charlie

[kitten]

I have been a customer of Vinnie’s since 2008 buying the original versions of the Isabella and Signature 30.2.

Vinnie is a true gentleman and you can’t fake his level of caring. Over the years there have been so many things Vinnie has done to help me out, and it’s clear from the comments on this forum he shares this great rapport with everyone. He once even did a mod to my Sig 30.2 that he really didn’t want to do at all philosophically, and this is just one of many examples of Vinnie going the extra mile. (It was such a worthwhile mod for me that I remain a happy owner of this 30.2 Sig today.)

I upgraded the Isabella through most of its iterations as Vinnie continually improved the battery and DAC technology and cosmetics. However there was one nagging problem especially affecting anyone outside of the US: postage both ways is slow and you’re going to be without your gear for what feels like too long. And if the customs inspectors are in a vigilant mood, which is most of the time, you’re going to have to pay to get your equipment back as well.

Enter the LIO. Problem solved.

I will leave the descriptions of how the LIO sounds to those with more writing skills than me. In a nutshell I can only say that I long ago forgot about “listening to the gear” with Vinnie’s offerings. You listen to the music you own never for a minute thinking it should sound any other way, nor wanting it to. It comes from a background of blackness with the artists’ work laid bare.

Keep up the great work Vinnie!

Current: Vinnie Rossi LIO with AVC/Tubestage /Telefunken (1967), DAC, Headphone (BAL); Red Wine Audio Signature 30.2; ALO Sennheiser HD800; Slinkylinks /Epos ES11; Sonicweld Diverter HR /Locus Nucleus.

Former: Naim

 

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Kitten, Timbana, postman131, PeterJauhal, Larry Kyoto - and anyone I missed,

Many thanks for your posts and keeping this thread up to date with the sharing
of your LIO experience! 

Vinnie

[LARRY KYOTO]

I had an issue with a module, contacted/discussed with Vinnie and mailed it to him. In less time than it took for it to reach him from Japan, it was being returned to me. Someone at USPS mistook Japan and sent on to Jordan - and the USPS agent I spoke with was polite but limited in information... Vinnie & Alexis were on it, provided me with way more accurate update info then I could get from the agent I spoke with... and after an extended trip around the world, my LIO is now back together harmoniously singing.
I don't know how they manage to find the time to create, manufacture and provide awesome & truly caring customer service with such a small {family} staff to do it all... perhaps that is exactly how they are able too & just being the kind of people that they are! どうもありがとう！

[Vinnie R.]

I had an issue with a module, contacted/discussed with Vinnie and mailed it to him. In less time than it took for it to reach him from Japan, it was being returned to me. Someone at USPS mistook Japan and sent on to Jordan - and the USPS agent I spoke with was polite but limited in information... Vinnie & Alexis were on it, provided me with way more accurate update info then I could get from the agent I spoke with... and after an extended trip around the world, my LIO is now back together harmoniously singing.
I don't know how they manage to find the time to create, manufacture and provide awesome & truly caring customer service with such a small {family} staff to do it all... perhaps that is exactly how they are able too & just being the kind of people that they are! どうもありがとう！

Thank you for your post, Larry! 

[tme110]

I'm still relatively new to LIO and haven't even tried out all the options I have yet but thought I should post something.  Like most, I've had quite a few amps and head amps etc.  But I've had a selection in my house that varied in price by $1-2000 and none of them really did anything more for me than the others (though all were a large step better than what I had using more 'normal' components).  Tube rolling really didn't do anything for me either but I still never got to the sound that I wanted.  The LIO was a major purchase for me and I was not set on keeping it.  So far the only input I've gotten to is USB (with mRendu) and the only output I've used are my LCD-2.2 headphones but the LIO is seriously the best sounding thing I've listened to to date, and I was not expecting that.  Everyone saying how much noticeably better the DHT is really boggles my mind.

I do have another headamp that may be at the same level but I've never gotten around to buying a DAC at the appropriate level to give it justice.  But I also got tired of having all these different boxes of gear laying around and the LIO solves that too.  I've even wondered if I could just replace my 5.1 system with the LIO - I would rather do this - but I still like my movies and surround sound too much at this point.

[Vinnie R.]

So far the only input I've gotten to is USB (with mRendu) and the only output I've used are my LCD-2.2 headphones but the LIO is seriously the best sounding thing I've listened to to date, and I was not expecting that.  Everyone saying how much noticeably better the DHT is really boggles my mind.

Thanks for your post, tme110!

Glad you are enjoying your LIO 

[matthewpartrick]

I replaced my 5.1 with the LIO in an attempt to simplify and have been super happy.