[-Richard-]

I have come a bit late to the excitement of the introduction of Vinnie Rossi’s latest assault on high-end audio... the Red Wine Audio, Signature 70.2 monoblock amplifiers. When the original Signature 70 monoblocks were first introduced I bought a pair based on Vinnie’s honest assessment of what Deb and I like in the way of sound reproduction... admittedly, it has taken me several months to save for the partial “upgrade” which is the essence of the Signature 70.2 sound, without the new and highly improved fast-battery-recharge-system (I am saving for that now).
   
Let me say right at the beginning that the new Signature 70.2 is a “revolutionary” amplifier. In fact the 70.2 is not an upgrade in my humble opinion... it is an entirely new and different sounding amplifier... and I want to help anyone who might be interested in the Sig. 70.2 to understand why it is such an incredible achievement.
   
I am a Single Ended Triode Tube lover... particularly the SET amplifiers that use 45 tubes... although I have heard many other varieties on my OB system... actually it was my wife Deb who insisted we go in that direction... Deb hates SS amps... her ears begin to bleed from SS residual sonic artifacts within 5 minutes of listening and we both suffer from SS listener fatigue in a very short time. I am mentioning this because the original Sig. 70 was the first non-SET-tube amplifier that Deb and I thought rivaled the sound of the best SET’s... and also because that is the standard that we use to judge the “tone” of any amplifier we listen to.
   
Within a half hour of the arrival of the Signature 70.2 monoblocks I had them playing in my system. The sound was s-m-o-o-t-h and nicely balanced. Hummmm... I thought... this is easy to listen to... then Deb and I went about our business not paying much attention to it. It was the next day that I began to notice something entirely different about the sound of the new Sig. 70.2 compared to the original Sig. 70. The bass reached all the way down to the lowest Hz level my OB’s could go... and then some... I was hearing a richer more visceral bass than even the best SET’s could achieve... and... it exhibited perfect pitch... it had a musical shape to it... when I played Kind of Blue I could hear the bass pluck every note with remarkable textural clarity and you could follow the melodic variations up and down the musical scale... this the SET’s could not do... nor any amp I have ever heard. OK... I thought... this is getting interesting.
   
After about 2 weeks of listening to the Signature 70.2 we have a good sense of what it sounds like. Tonally, the Sig 70.2 (with my tube SE preamp) easily rivals the best SET’s I have ever heard and in many cases it surpasses them... it sounds much richer and more visceral than the original Sig 70... it goes much deeper revealing an entire universe of mid-range, lower-mid range and bass textures and sounds that the original Sig 70 could not. If you like the voice or sound of the cello, for example, you are in for quite a treat. Also the Sig. 70.2  is stunningly dynamic... this is not a laid-back musical experience... the dynamics of the Sig. 70.2 is like nothing I have ever heard before... one hears the bow as it attacks the strings of a violin... then the sound of the bow as it is being pulled across the strings... the sound of the rosin that is coating the strings... then the lift-off of the bow and the lingering ambient sound of the notes as they reflect off the walls of the hall or studio of the recording and begin to fade... and all of this takes place in a single moment only. The Sig. 70.2 has a completely 3-D holographic presentation... easily as good as the best designed SET’s in the world... only it has something the tube SET’s do not have... it is this wealth of complex textural information that makes every instrument sound like the actual material it is made from. The original Sig. 70’s did not have that level of 3-D holographic dimension.
   
If you like music that is strong on rhythm... like pop African music, or jazz for example, you will go wild when you hear the powerful driving force the Sig.70.2 serves up... Deb and I find ourselves getting up and dancing... the music throbbing hot through the veins.
   
More than that... the Sig. 70.2 makes every instrument sound as if it is lit-up from within... as if the musical notes were not just sounds but laser beams with each beam occupying its own space... this is much more amazing then it sounds... because it has the effect of transforming even the most “average” musical performance into something totally alive and full of this enormous inner musical energy. I am trying to capture what it is we are hearing that makes the music sound so vital with the new Sig 70.2. OK... imagine a jazz or classical quartet in which the instruments are all playing at the same time and each instrument is doing something different... so that there is great complexity in the sound as the instruments weave together... each instrument begins to merge into the sound of the other instruments as they overlap each other to create an all-over merged tone... with the Sig 70.2 the individual instruments refuse to give up their unique individual textures and dynamic rhythms... so that the ear hears the full merging of the overlapping tones, while at the same time each of the individual instruments... the result is a wealth of musical information that is stunningly complex and yet accessible. With the Sig 70.2 it is impossible to hear any musical piece “completely” with one listening session... you go back again and again and each time you hear something entirely different because the full depth of the complexity of the music is so rich it is impossible to fully grasp it.
   
It is as if each musical presentation suddenly reveals a treasure-chest of jewels with brilliant colors and shapes and dazzling reflections... the eye cannot take it all in with one viewing.
   
Until now I assumed my Open Baffle speakers were terrific on intimate musical material... small ensemble works like classical chamber works or jazz quartets or smaller scale performances for the voice... we were shocked when Deborah put on a Baroque orchestral recording for the first time since the Sig, 70.2 arrived... it sounded absolutely stunning... the entire movement of the full orchestra was reproduced perfectly... the full sweep... the ebb and flow of all the instruments playing together was reproduced as if the performance was spilling into our room. The Sig. 70.2’s makes our simple OB’s sound like $30,000 super classy expensive highly engineered speakers!!!
   
The new Signature 70.2 is startlingly fast... which means it captures everything on the recording so that it never has a chance to sink below our ability to “recognize” it... we are always fully aware of every sound that is present on the recording... including such things as the intimate breathing of a singer or the lifting of a finger from the piano keys. It is extraordinarily exciting to listen to... it captures your attention and will not let go as it draws you deeper into the fabric of the music’s inner life... and at the same time it has a thoroughly balanced and smooth presentation.
   
And there is still something more. Vinnie has solved one of the most illusive problems in audio... how to deal with dirty AC current and the vacillating current swings that shift throughout the day. Vinnie has solved this often serious problem with the use of battery power... which has the potential to discharge huge amounts of absolutely clean DC current instantaneously... so that as the music swells into powerful peaks, the Sig. 70.2 easily meets the demands of these huge current swings... which helps to create the effect of a calm and highly nuanced control.
   
The Signature 70.2 creates an entirely new musical experience... it is a world-class amplifier... easily the best amplifier Deb and I have ever heard. The music that flows through it sounds stunningly real. It allows a powerful light to shine through every instrument... and it has an inner energy that is seductive, enticing and dramatic.
   
Lastly I want to point out that there is something about the way the Sig, 70.2 releases the potential emotion in the music... it is deeply affecting... it gets to you... it can expose levels of feeling you forgot you were capable of expressing... voices or stringed instruments, for example, reveal a hauntingly intimate quality that can fill you up and shift you into an entirely different zone of feeling.
   
Congratulations, Vinnie... this is a musical masterpiece. With the Signature 70.2 you have evolved yourself from being an enormously talented audio engineer/designer... into being an artist. The Signature 70.2 is a work of audio art on the highest level.

Postscript: Deborah insisted I mention that she is crazy about the new Signature 70.2 amplifier... all day long she says things like: “Did you hear that!!!!” “Stunning” “WOW!!!!!” “Is that the same recording? I have never heard it like that!!!!” “Beautiful tone, that cello sounds exquisite”!!!! “I never liked that recording before... now I love it”... Deb loves music even more than I do... she is a highly sought after designer and she works at home accompanied by music throughout the day... Deb knows what the best audio and live music sounds like... she really is in love with the Sig 70.2.

Warmest Regards ~ Richard

[marklivia]

As usual, Richard says it best. I was going to do a similar write up for Vinnie about my upgraded Sig 30. I'm having the exact same experience as Richard, I just can't express it as well in writing. Suffice it to say that a $500 investment in the upgrade yielded a $10,000 return. No kidding, it's that good.  ANY of you guys w/ an original 30 or 70's, believe me when I say this upgrade will be the best audio investment you'll ever make. I never believed an amp could have this dramatic an effect on the big picture. Maybe a source or speakers.....  Vinnie, you've completely transformed my system.
I can't thank you enough.    Mark

[ZLS]

Reading Richard's posting is always a humbling experience.  He is the very definition of articulate. 
    I am a owner of a Sig 30.2 that I had upgraded from 30 status.  I struggled for words to describe the improvement that I was hearing, and then along comes Richard and there it is. 
    Srajan of 6 Moons had it right; all I can add is that the longer one owns a upgraded Sig the more one appreciates and values it.

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Richard,

Like many other members on Audiocircle, you have been a loyal Red Wine Audio customer since the early days of the Clari-T-Amp.  You and Deb have moved up the RWA product line in the past few years and have always posted valuable feedback and have been extremely enthusiastic and supportive! 

Your thoughtful posts tell the story of what RWA constantly stives to achieve - a higher-level of music reproduction that deeply connects with our customers' senses and emotions, and at a very competitive price points *without* outsourcing any of our design and manufacturing work outside of the USA! 

It is highly rewarding and very humbling to read the thoughtful posts that you take the time and effort to write describing the listening experiences that both you and Deb are having.  I want to thank you and Deb very much for this... I really appreicate it!

As usual, Richard says it best. I was going to do a similar write up for Vinnie about my upgraded Sig 30. I'm having the exact same experience as Richard, I just can't express it as well in writing. Suffice it to say that a $500 investment in the upgrade yielded a $10,000 return. No kidding, it's that good.

Hi Mark,

I also wish I could express myself in my writing on the same level as Richard.  Heck, even a few levels below Richard's writing would be a nice improvement for me!

I want you and all RWA customers to know that I do not expect you to post on public forums at all, so no matter how much or little you write to post your impressions, I appreciate this positive and valuable feedback.  Thank you!

I am a owner of a Sig 30.2 that I had upgraded from 30 status.  I struggled for words to describe the improvement that I was hearing, and then along comes Richard and there it is. .

Hi ZLS,

Like Richard and Mark, you have been an early RWA supporter (and again, there are a lot of you guys out there on audiocircle who have been) and I thank you for all your posts and feedback.


Thanks again, everyone! 

Vinnie

[Afterimage]

Thanks Richard.  It might not be your cup of tea for music, but how does the 70.2s do or sound with pop/rock? 

[-Richard-]

Hi Afterimage ~

The Signature 70.2 is incredibly dynamic... the force and "jump" and gyrating rhythms that are so exhilarating in pop and rock music are further energized by the Signature 70.2's explosive and highly articulate renderings of a notes natural velocity.

I was fortunate that in my early teenage years an older neighbor, Marvin, who was studying to be a classical orchestra conductor "took me under his wing" and introduced me to classical music in a way that allowed me to fall in love with it... thanks, Marvin!!!! but I grew up during the Renaissance of 50's rock and pop music... my favorite thing to do in the evenings was to ride around with my friends... the ones who had enough money to afford a car... listening to tube radios playing rock and pop music... Deb and I move from one kind of musical genre to another throughout the day... alternating between classical, pop, rock, jazz, fusion, native, and the classical music of Asia... the Signature 70.2 brings out the "essence" of each one of these different musical forms.

The Signature 70.2 has the amazing balance to sound intimate at the same time that is sounds explosively dynamic... quite a neat trick!!!!

Part of this unique balancing act between a sensuously seductive intimacy and powerfully rendered dynamics lies in the application of using a tube preamp with the Signature 70.2... so that what you hear is the best possible sound of the most sophisticated SET tube amplifiers... but as if they were on steroids... you will not be disappointed, Afterimage!!!!!

However... please let me suggest to everyone out there that puts so much love and attention into their beloved audio systems... please keep trying different forms of music from time to time... I have personally found that a highly sophisticated audio system brings out the intelligence in music's inner "intent"... so that forms of music that might seem "abstract" or out of the "context" of ones usual musical palette... can be understood and enjoyed in a way impossible without that high level audio system rendering its "inner" life.

I will go a step further... I think that anyone who puts that much love into putting together their audio system has a responsibility to expose themselves to musical forms that push their tolerance to new levels of understanding... to that end Deb and I will expose ourselves so music that may take 5 or 6 listenings before we can "understand" the intent of the music... the result is an ever increasing musical intelligence or understanding... which keeps expanding ones appreciation of all musical forms.

Warmest Regards ~ Richard

[Afterimage]

Thanks for the reply.  Sounds like a winner for sure.  One way I can tell if a system sounds good, is when some music is on  that you don't recognize or type of music you would not normally listen to grabs you and keeps you listening.  It might not be your type of music, but damn, this sounds good.  I think that is what you are trying to say, and I agree with it.

[-Richard-]

Hi Afterimage ~

Yes... that's it!!!!

It is interesting to note that film has allowed us to be exposed to musical forms that we might otherwise not go out our way to purchase for home listening.

Deb and I are film lovers... we have seen thousands of films... films from every country and from every period. Many times film from other countries has the most exquisite music playing through it... I listen to film through my audio system... so that music really comes alive for us... haunting and emotionally charged!!!!

It is curious that we accept all forms of music in film but that we do not necessarily go out of our way to listen to that same music at home (sans the film)... I suspect it is because music is a language like a spoken language and we tend to stay in the musical field that we know and have learned to respond to.

I will be purchasing an Apple Airport Extreme device very soon that will allow my computer to send itunes internet radio to my audio system during the day... that should open up a delightful array of new music for us... in spite of the MP3 resolution... I will let everyone know how it all sounds with the Signature 70.2 once I have it working.

Warmest Regards ~ Richard

[mca]

Richard,

I'm sure you have mentoned it before, but what preamp and source are you using with the 70.2's?

Your great writeup only reinforces my curiosity to try a new Red Wine amp with my MaxHemps.

Someday!

[smargo]

It is curious that we accept all forms of music in film but that we do not necessarily go out of our way to listen to that same music at home (sans the film)... I suspect it is because music is a language like a spoken language and we tend to stay in the musical field that we know and have learned to respond to.

I will be purchasing an Apple Airport Extreme device very soon that will allow my computer to send itunes internet radio to my audio system during the day... that should open up a delightful array of new music for us... in spite of the MP3 resolution... I will let everyone know how it all sounds with the Signature 70.2 once I have it working.

Warmest Regards ~ Richard

Richard - forgive me if you posted somewhere else - but what preamp are you using?

thanks
smargo
 

[Zero]

Great write up Richard - thanks for sharing.   

[-Richard-]

Hi mca and smargo ~

I am using Lloyd Peppard's (Mapletree Audio Design) Magic 5B SE Triplex Line Preamplifier... the cost is substantially more now then when I purchased it... now that our dollar is being trashed to pay for the "war" in Iraq... the Canadian currency like almost every currency in the world becomes stronger against our weakening dollar.

I purchased the Magic 5B based on an AC member sending me his so I could hear it with my SET 45 amp... the real surprise was when I first used it in combination with the original Signature 70 amplifier and could not believe how wonderful it sounded... with the Signature 70.2 the combination is stunning with my OB's.

However, I can honestly say that I do not know if the Magic 5B is a "definitive" preamp for the Signature 70.2... there are so many AC members whose opinion I trust that have very different tube preamps, and they are raving about the sound they hear with them... and then there is Vinnie's soon to arrive Isabella preamplifier which I am certain will allow the Signature 70.2 to fully realize its sonic potential.

So under these circumstances I am not necessarily recommending the Magic 5B for the Signature 70.2... since we should really have some way of hearing several varieties of tube preamp before we can say for certain which ones are the perfect match for it. I do not like the position of "sitting on the fence"... but a preamp may constitute the kind of expense that should make us choose carefully in order to get the most of the Signature 70.2's phenomenal level of performance.

I am extremely interested in hearing the magic of the Isabella... I am saving for one right now.

One more thought... I suspect since so many tube preamps are working so effectively with the new Signature amps that we can all get away with a "cheapy" tube preamp until the Isabella is ready... just a thought!

Hi Zero ~

Thank you for your kindness.

It is fascinating that as I have grown more sophisticated in what I demand from my audio system, so has Vinnie become infinitely more sophisticated in what he demands from his audio products. Thanks to Vinnie's liberal upgrade policy and his ability to "retro-fit" his new technology into his previous model Signature amps, we are all able to enjoy a MUCH higher level of music reproduction... THANKS VINNIE!!!!! I am deeply appreciative of the genius behind the new Signature 70.2 mono-block amplifier... the fact that I was able to upgrade to it for a modest expense is FANTASTIC!!!!!!! I like having a state-of-the-art audio system!!!!!!

Warmest Regards ~ Richard

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Richard,

Thank you for your follow-up posts.  I'm very glad to read how well your Magic 5B / Sig 70.2 combo is working out for your custom OB speakers! 

Thanks again,

Vinnie