I joined AudioCircle specifically to praise Vinnie and his small but amazing operation. I had the pleasure of visiting Vinnie's facility this week in Durham, Connecticut, and it amazes me how he, and his partner, are able to do such fantastic work. Well, anyone reading the Red Wine Audio sponsored link here knows how genius the "off-grid" concept is, so I'm just piling it on and no doubt repeating what everyone who knows Vinnie has no doubt already said or thought. What a NICE guy! This is the first thing I have to say. Vinnie has always been there with a smile at all the headphone meets I've been to in NYC, and he greeted me with the same smile this week in Durham. I had Vinnie do two iMods for me - amazingly, I'd never heard the iMod before, and I had read how this was "old news" - like four year ago stuff. Good thing I don't believe in everything I read. Vinnie modded both my 240gb ipod 5.5g (upgraded hard drive from Rapid Repair) and my 80gb ipod 5.5g as well (both Apple factory refurbs, never used). Vinnie turned around the products in a day's time! So, I got home, hooked up an ALO all copper imod cable (which Vinnie had lying around that he generously sold me), hooked it up to my Ray Samuels SR-71A headphone amp and my JH-13 in ear monitors, turned on the music, and was stunned. Note, I was not using either Apple Lossless or WAV, but just 240 music. Unbelievable bass definition, mids gorgeous, soft (but not blurry highs - in fact, I'm sensitive to highs, so this was ideal). I am just so happy I invested in these iMods.
The thing is, there's no surprise here. I've heard Vinnie's Isabellina/DAC set up with the Audeze LCD-3s at the most recent NYC headphone meet and his gear knocked the socks off of everything else I heard that day (including various Stax SR-009/amp combinations (though I missed the SR-009, Blue Hawaii SE combination, darn it!, which was at the meet too). Two years or so ago, it was the same deal, Vinnie's Isabella(?) and Sony R-10B combination was also best in show.
In short - Vinnie had a stroke of genius going 'off-grid' - he just seems to nail it with everything he touches. Vinnie, thanks a million - you are a fantastic asset to this hobby. Keep up the great work and much, much continued success in the future.
