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The sound in the Vinnie Rossi/Spatial Audio room was superb. I knew it was a good sign when as soon as I walked in I started to relax, my toe started tapping and depending on the recording, when you closed your eyes the room walls would drop away and you would swear the musicians were in the room. The sound was organic, effortless, integrated from top to bottom with crisp, clear bass, massive sound stage and no room resonances. Given the wonderful sound, I found the sparse, simple elegance of the system even more astonishing and it still leaves me marveling as it was a stark contrast to every other room at the show that I visited. There were no massive, acoustically isolating racks of DAC's, preamps, and power conditioners, no monster amps sitting in the middle of the floor between the speakers, no cables the size of fire hoses connecting the various pieces of equipment, no acoustic panels and sound tuning devices cluttering the room, just a small laptop running Roon, Vinnie's Lio, and Clayton's X-1's connected by some very thin, unobtrusive cables. It sounded great in both halves of the the room even though the suite had two divider walls partially separating one portion of the room from the other. The quality of the sound was the purist testimony to the quality of the design, materials and synergies of each component. Astonishing!This is a system that anyone could aspire to build and continually evolve. Start with Vinnie's simplest Lio configuration and upgrade the Lio as time and funds permit with no investment cost penalty. Given it's simplistic, minimalist beauty, it is a system that would be welcome in almost any home by any significant other and where one could be content remaining forever within the ecosystem that Vinnie has created.Just as importantly if not more so than the system, was the opportunity to speak with Clayton and Vinnie. You will never meet two nicer, more down-to-earth guys than these two who are also brilliant, passionate, visionaries. It was simply a joy to sit and talk with them.Lastly, this visit fully convinced me that this is what audio, as an industry, should aspire to be. Simple, elegant, sparse, unobtrusive systems that can evolve with time, designed, created and serviced by quality people, that always leaves the music to stand alone with no apologies or caveats needed.
Hi AV Passion. I could not have said it better myself. The simplicity of the Vinnie Rossi/Spatial system is remarkable. No worries about dirty AC power, reduced interconnect count and significantly lower number of boxes is a welcomed solution for me and my wife. But what is this increased simplicity worth if it does not sound good? Well, as av passion states, it does sound good, very good. The system is detailed, but relaxing, effortless, sounds good at low volume levels and high and the soundstage is the best I have ever heard. The width and definitionwere fantastic and the depth was like nothing I have ever heard - amazing! The system embarrassed most rooms with higher MSRP.I already had a deposit down on the Spatial X1 and now I am in the process of buying Vinnie's Lio. I am very excited.BTW, i have no financial connection to Vinnie Rossi or Clayton Shaw. They are both great guys. I have known Clayton for years and have owned several of his products.
I want to come hear your set up! I'm getting the LIO too!Hi Guf! You are certainly welcome to come over as soon as I get it. I think you will love the Lio. IMHO (and many others), it is a revolutionary product.
I knew it was a good sign when as soon as I walked in I started to relax, my toe started tapping and depending on the recording, when you closed your eyes the room walls would drop away and you would swear the musicians were in the room. The sound was organic, effortless, integrated from top to bottom with crisp, clear bass, massive sound stage and no room resonances.
Vinnie Rossi always has a smooth selection of sonic treats to sample from and he always seems to know the right tune to play for any audience – with deep tracks and clever covers. He was also generous enough to let me sit in the sweet spot and bear witness to the quick, but clear rock track Madness from Muse for a taste of the weekend’s auditory cocktail. Upward extension was spot on, the system’s response to the rapid fire vocal samples and distorted instruments was controlled and tidy.
Another nice surprise was that a local show attendee that visited our exhibit room multiple times during the show ended up purchasing the entire room of gear that we presented (LIO, X1s, and cables) - and since he was local, we were able to deliver it to his home and set it up on Sunday evening! He was very serious about wanting to recreate the exact sound that he heard in our exhibit room at the show, so it ended up working out perfectly for all of us!
Wow. It is one thing to have the wherewithal to afford this system (really, not that far out of reach for many of us) but a whole nother thing to have the designers deliver and set it up. I hope he is a young guy because he will remember this for the rest of his life (and never stop telling his buddies about it).
Wonder if he is a member of any audio forums... a review would be nice!
200 pounds! Holy cow, that's crazy.Surprised but how little else is out there about the X1 so far.
The last room on my list: Vinnie Rossi, Spatial Audio, and Anticables."Wicked Game" by Jenna Mammina and Rolf Sturm sung through a system that comprised a Vinnie Rossi LIO "super integrated" amplifier ($11,880 as configured; a Stereophile Class A Recommended Component 2015–2017), a pair of Spatial Audio X1 "UniWave" loudspeakers (standard painted $14,000/pair, gloss Lucite surface $17,500/pair), and Anticables throughout. The sound of the LIO's ultracapacitor-powered, modular system paired with the X1's uniwave dipole design was widespread, transparent, and profoundly engaging—the perfect end to my Los Angeles Audio Show experience.
Vinnie: Was this LIO system using the stock DHT tubes? Congratulations on the award, on-site sale and completion of another stellar show! One of the new DAC 2.0 you are busy building {hint} is coming here to Kyoto!!
...Clayton Shaw’s newest design the Spatial Audio X1 UniWave Speakers were so musical, so open and so emotionally involving that for a few minutes I forgot I was at a show. ...This system that Clayton Shaw and Vinnie Rossi put together was close to the best sound I heard at the show. ...Yes, the bass was very deep and powerful, but it was also extremely tuneful and not the least big or fat even in these show rooms, which were not kind to speakers with deep bass. There were only a few rooms with speakers that could say this. The sound was also very open and very transparent with great imaging, and yes, the soundstage was huge.None of that is nearly as important as how musical and emotionally involving as these new speakers are. So, let us present our first ever Beatnik Bongo Award to the Spatial Audio X1 UniWave Speakers as the Best Speakers Under $20,000.