Given the plug'n'play modularity of LIO, I asked whether for review I could get both the AVC and the tube stage + RVC modules. "Sure. This will be very good to write about (how one can easily swap and how you find them to compare sonically). I don't see one as better than the other. They simply have different flavours. For super transparency and neutrality, the AVC is hard to beat. For more meat on the bones of tonal richness, density and a greater sense of space albeit at the expense of some transparency and speed, the RVC plus tube stage are the way to go. Some customers in fact might want to have both and change things up every now and then; or as they change their system (e.g. different modules will work best with different speakers or headphones)."


As to the name LIO, "there are my daughters Liliana, Isabella and my wife OiWah. OiWah—Alexis is her middle name and what a lot of people call her—came to NYC from China when she was 6 years old. She grew up in NYC and worked there until she moved and started working for me. We knew each other from our college days more than 15 years prior. She works with me every day and I am still amazed by how she has the patience for that."

RMAF prototype showing with double-decker DSD DAC, tube module and 6.3mm headphone output.

"ESR of the caps is ~0.002Ω so they can supply hundreds of amps instantaneously. You can arc-weld with them. They can also be charged extremely quickly. And yes, these are ultracaps of 350F aka 350'000'000uF each. Multiplied x 9 but run in series for each bank, the total capacitance divides by the number of caps used to net 33.89F per 24V bank. But yes, there are 6300F at 2.7V of total charge under the hood if they all were connected in parallel. Specific details of the ultracapacitor circuit (e.g. our impedance graphs, schematics, info on the bypass caps, balancing, cap charging circuit etc) will not be disclosed for hopefully obvious reasons." Incidentally, the ultracaps are only used for audio signal. "All the control circuitry is powered exclusively from the 24V charger. This feeds a dedicated 5V regulator for all logic circuits on all of the modules." On the NY show, "of course Stereophile visited with us and John Atkinson, Herb Reichert and Michael Lavorgna took pictures and asked questions. Herb also requested a sample for Stereophile. He was very enthusiastic about LIO. Steve Guttenberg for CNET, John Darko for DigitalAudioReview.net and Scott Hull for PartTimeAudiophile are also on the list."
The basic production LIO without any installed modules; plus the Mosfet Amp module by itself.


With the Vinnie Rossi beta site having gone live just then, it was time to hit the ponies - er, configurator page for actual pricing. My review loaner with AVC would max out at $5'375 and reduce to $4'870 with the RVC and tube stage instead. With just the RVC, the price would drop to $4'275. The breakdown for all the options is $295 for the input selector; $595 for the headphone module; $695 for the DSD/PCM DAC; $695 for the Mosfet amp; $595 for the phono stage; $395 for the remote-loading control of the phono option; $295 for the RVC; $1'395 for the AVC; and $595 for the tube buffer. The basic platform of outer case, external AC/DC adaptor, ultracapacitor array and motherboard is $1'995. LIO as basic headphone amp (RVC + input selector) nets $3'180, $3'280 as integrated amp and $2'690 as fixed-output DAC. Fully loaded with RVC/tube board gets $6'155 and the costliest option becomes $6'660 with the autoformer volume control. In short, though flexibility, industrial design and options have moved up, pricing for LIO is not that different than it's been for the Red Wine Audio catalogue. That is clearly due to the direct-sales model which prevents a doubling of the final sticker. The ponies can move back into their stables and graze rather than race.
A fully loaded production LIO with Tube Stage and remote control. Green AVC option installed at right.