News & Reviews
Reviewers find our award-winning products perform well above their price points. That’s good news for us, and even better news for you!
News
Vinnie Rossi LIO
.
As of 2015, all Red Wine Audio products have been discontinued and replaced
with Vinnie Rossi LIO. See you there!
Review
Part Time Audiophile awards our Liliana Renaissance Edition monoblocks with an Editor’s Choice Award
"…this is high-class sound, with a serving of awesome on the side."
"…regardless of tubes I had on hand to explore, the bass delivery was strong, tuneful, and deep, with a sound stage that was easily on par with my personal references. I had absolutely no trouble making low-impedance loudspeakers dance and even with a high-sensitivity “magnifying glass” loudspeaker, the tunes were as delicate or as slammin’ as the performer required."
“…this is a wonderful amp. Highly recommended!”
Source: Scot Hull, Part-Time Audiophile
Review
Isabella wins TWO awards from Part Time Audiophile!
If you seek truly high-end performance from a preamp that competes well above its price point, this is a must read review.
“…the sonic presentation was just superb. It’s one of the best preamps I’ve heard, and at this price, it has “value” etched all over it.”
“…its soundstage is huge, beautifully presented, with great detail and just-lovely tone… “I found it breathtaking and entirely addicting.”
“…there’s a reason this preamp has won awards.”
Source: Scot Hull, Part-Time Audiophile
News
Signature 57 reviewed by DARko
World-premier review of the Signature 57 by DARko:
"Being a dual-mono design – imaging met my high expectations head on. Ditto macro dynamics. The Signature 57 turns up the lights on the spaces surrounding instruments. Most obvious in battery mode, music emanated from further behind the speaker plane than with ANY amplifier I’ve heard to date.
...If the Signature 15 was Red Wine Audio’s tasting plate then the bigger, badder Signature 57 is a Sunday roast with all the trimmings. Your loudspeakers won’t ever go hungry or want for nutrition."
Source: John Darko, Digital Audio Review
News
Enjoy the Music reviews the Isabella Renaissance Edition
Isabella casts her spell once again!
"The Isabella was able to draw me in through its musicality, and that is just about the highest praise I can give a piece of audio equipment... It has so much more to offer it seems almost unfair to its competitors. An audition is not only recommended but absolutely necessary."
Source: Tom Lyle, Enjoy the Music
News
CES 2013: Red Wine Audio earns a “best of show” from The Absolute Sound
"Best Sound (for the lowest price): … Harbeth monitor 30.1 loudspeakers ($5,990/pr) driven by Red Wine Audio’s battery-powered electronics."
Source: Dick Olsher, The Absolute Sound
News
Red Wine Audio Relaunches Complete Line of Hi-fi Components
Dubbed the Renaissance Edition, revamped lineup delivers:
- A fresh new look
- Improved sound from all components
- Expanded options to integrate more than one product into a single enclosure
- Factory upgrades offered to existing customers for select products
Read the press release »
News
Signature 15 Makes “Best of 2012”
Part-Time Audiophile selects our Signature 15 as one of the year’s best, stating…
“This thing was killer. The only limit here was the 15 watts per channel — assuming that this was enough (think, “good speaker matching”), this little amp was top of the heap. Very impressive!”
See the entire list here
News
6moons: Vinnie Rossi on Renaissance Edition
Industry Feature — A behind the scenes look at the Renaissance Edition product line!
“These components will be the very best we have offered since I started RWA in 2005”
Read the interview
Review
TONEAudio Liliana Review
TONEAudio test drives the Liliana monoblocks. Looks like Jeff LOVES what he hears!
“… [the Liliana monoblocks] feature neutral tonality, speed, dynamics and low level detail retrieval that few amplifiers in their price category can match.”
“The Lilianas have an excellent sense of pace and timing, combined with tons of texture.”
“…these amplifiers are of top quality and able to be installed in the context of any system.”
“Highly recommended! ”
Source: Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine
News
Part-Time Audiophile Most Wanted
Part-Time Audiophile places our Signature 15 integrated amplifier and Corvina headamp on his list of “most wanted components,” adding for the Signature 15…
“If it fits your system, you cannot do better at this price point. C-A-N-N-O-T.”
See the entire list here
Review
Tone Audio Reviews Liliana
Our new Liliana Monblocks earn a "Top Tone 2012" award! Jeff Dorgay – Tone’s Publisher – notes for the selected products, “…we’ve picked the components that are our absolute favorites…”
“The Liliana offers the grain-free sound and uncanny low-level detail resolution for which RWA is known and brings the Liliana to a wider range of speakers with its additional power.”
Source: Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine
Download TONEAudio Issue 48 (Review on page 66)
Review
Digital Audio Review reviews the Signature 15
Our Signature 15 Integrated wins another audio award. This time it’s the “Dar-KO” from Digital Audio Review!
“A superb-sounding integrated that immediately nullifies doubts about mains power quality.”
“…the Signature 15 mainlines refinement and musical engagement. Intoxication + affordability = addiction.”
Source: John Darko, Digital Audio Review
Review
6moons reviews Liliana Monoblocks
Inefficient speakers? Large room? Or simply craving superb sound backed by abundant power? 6Moons finds your destination in Red Wine Audio’s new Liliana Monoblocks!
“…RWA(s) recipe has been successfully scaled up to drive beastlier speakers.”
“For an amplifier such low-impedance current delivery means superior control over the connected loudspeaker.”
“With the Lilianas we thus get the promise of perfectly silent operation, perfectly consistent always predictable performance and what Vinnie views as the perfect combination of slam and delicacy.”
“Applied equally and consistently to build quality, to the proven battery concept, to applicability (which includes most speakers any shopper in these leagues would consider) and finally to the core but now refined sound signature, the most relevant catch phrase for Liliana really is super solid! That then becomes your destination…”
Source: Srajan Ebaen, 6moons.com
Review
Steve Guttenberg Finds Our $1,000 Corvina Headphone Amp to be “Extraordinary”
“…the Corvina’s sound is up there with the very best and significantly pricier headphone amps.”
Source: Steve Guttenberg, CNET
Review
Part-Time Audiophile reviews the Signature 15
Is our Signature 15 integrated really as good as it gets? One reviewer sums it nicely in six simple words: ”I dare you to do better!“
“… the Signature 15 from Red Wine Audio is an excellent example of what’s best in the audio high-end.”
“$1,500, for this level of sound, is unbelievable. The fact that this is all Made In The USA? Inconceivable.”
“…I dare you to do better…”
Source: Part-Time Audiophile
News
Red Wine Audio Announces Liliana Reference Level Monoblock Amplifier
At 115wpc RMS into 8-ohms, and powered off-the-grid by premium LFP battery packs, Liliana marks another industry first for Red Wine Audio
Read the press release »
Review
Tone Audio reviews our Signature 15 integrated amplifier.
In our new Signature 15 integrated amplifier, Tone Audio finds high end performance at a reasonable price. Modesty aside, we at Red Wine Audio wholeheartedly agree.
“… (Vinnie) mines pure gold with an amplifier that expresses the soul of music.”
“There’s a certain cleanliness, and at the same time, an unmistakably, highly organic sound.”
“You’d never guess you are listening to a $1,500 integrated amplifier. And that’s exactly what makes the Signature 15 so awesome.”
Source: Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine
Review
Signature 15 reviewed by 6moons
How do you define value?
6moons pits the Signature 15 integrated against a lauded amp / preamp combo costing more than five times the price. So what do you get – or possibly loose – for the $6,500 delta? Here’s a hint: Our new Signature 15 earns an extremely rare Blue Moon Award!
“The first things which thus struck me about Vinnie’s new discrete transistor design were its more teased-out refined treble; and its overall higher resolution… without sacrificing overall warmth and weightiness, the new battery type plus very different output stage had lifted the general presentation to a higher plateau of sophistication.”
“…this sound majored big time on body, a powerful sense of robustness, very grippy taut bass and tonal heaviness… to get there for $1.500 rather than an ASR Emitter II-type $10.000 sticker is a really big deal. It’s why the latest Red Wine Audio model joins the original Signature 30 in garnering our Blue Moon Award. It’s an even better amp with more features for essentially the same price as it was six years ago. Take that to the bank!”
Source: Srajan Ebaen, 6moons.com
News
Isabellina HPA LFP-V Edition earns Tone Audio 2011 Publisher’s Choice Award!
Isabellina DAC now part of Jeff Dorgay’s reference system
“Not only did it get one of our PC awards, I purchased the review sample and have been using it as a reference component for almost a year on a daily basis.”
Source: Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine
Download TONEAudio Issue 42
Review
6moons iMod / iPod comparison
6moons compares Red Wine Audio’s iMod to a stock iPod. Looks like Red Wine Audio goodness comes in small packages, too!…
“The iMod was patently warmer, fleshier, rounder and fuller.”
“…‘once you’ve heard that, you can’t ever go back’. Sure could. Just wouldn't want to…”
Source: Srajan Ebaen, 6moons.com
News
Red Wine Audio Debuts New “Value-priced” Components – “The right products for the times we live in!”
Budget-friendly pricing for Signature 15 integrated amp and Corvina headphone amplifier place Red Wine Audio’s coveted ‘sound’ within reach for a much larger audience of music lovers.
News
Red Wine Audio Debuts Battery-powered CD Transport – Unit Designed to Appeal to Existing Customers
New ‘CD Transport 1,’ enables Isabellina “DAC–equipped” components to utilize CDs as a music source, while leveraging dual advantages of pure LFP battery operation and favorable pricing.
Review
Audez’e Edition Headphone System
Head-Fi.org notable “SKYLAB” runs the Audez’e Edition Headphone System through a rigorous evaluation, including numerous head-to-head competitive comparisons. Spoiler alert – he ends up buying his eval unit!
“… the AE (Audez’e Edition) sounds truly excellent. It drove the LCD-2 to very loud levels with ease, and the sound was lively, engaging, and highly transparent. I think the AE provided the most neutral sound I have heard from the LCD-2, but without being the least bit bright, edgy, or etched. Bass was extremely well defined and tight, with the appropriate amount of weight (but the bass is not over weighted). The treble is very extended and smooth – and the AE may provide the best treble performance I have ever heard from the LCD-2, in that there was absolutely no feeling of treble reticence, in spite of there also being no unwanted sibilance or etch. That’s not an easy trick. And the mids were beautiful – clean, clear, and yet very sweet and lush.”
“… the AE is very highly and enthusiastically recommended.”
Source: SKYLAB on Head-Fi
Review
Audez’e Edition Headphone System
Inner Fidelity’s Steve Guttenberg finds the Red Wine Audio Audez’e Edition Headphone System to be as real as it gets!
“… (compared to the Red Wine Audio/Audez’e paring) the Burson/Audez’e headphone combination sounds harder, brighter, with a closer perspective, and feels spatially compressed. The Burson sound is 2-D, compared with the Red Wine’s more 3-D presentation. That voluptuous quality is the most addicting part of the Red Wine Audez’e sound … Red Wine’s added weight, dynamics, dimensionality and power were truly astonishing.”
“So what we’re talking about here is a level of realism unavailable from any other headphone/amp combination in my experience.”
Source: Steve Guttenberg, Inner Fidelity
News
RMAF 2011
We'll be exhibiting at RMAF in Room 1009. Please visit us and bring your favorite music!
News
Audez’e Edition Headphone System
Red Wine Audio, Audez’e, Inc. and ALO Audio unveil system for headphone connoisseurs.
Review
The next best thing to being there…
“Ginevra’s sound is totally organic. It has substance and weight, so it sounds like live music... I couldn’t stop putting LPs on the platter.”
Source: Steve Guttenberg, TONEAudio Magazine
Review
TONE Audio Tours Red Wine Audio’s Factory
Steve Guttenberg from TONE reports nice a "vibe," a fantastic customer listening room -- and even spills the beans on a couple future products (...oops!).
Join the tour!
Review
6moons puts Black Lightning LFP to the test…
RWA’s high-current battery power supply goes toe-to-toe with a pricier dedicated linear power supply – and for those who value an analog sound – takes the upper hand!
“(Black Lightning on battery power) presented the greater substance of actual persons attached to those voices. And yes the battery rendering was softer, warmer, weightier, richer, creamier, more laid-back and leisurely… what hifi parlance generally equates with analogue.”
Source: Srajan Ebaen, 6moons.com
Review
The world’s best headphone amplifier?
Referencing Red Wine Audio’s Isabellina HPA DAC/headphone amp, this is the question Steve Guttenberg poses in CNET News. But, Isabellina HPA LFP-V Edition owners already know the answer.
“I’ve reviewed and auditioned a lot of headphone amplifiers over the years, but Red Wine Audio’s Isabellina HPA LFP-V Edition stood out from the pack… It sounds remarkably pure, detailed, and clean, but without any false clarity.”
“…acoustic music sounded a giant step closer to the way it does in real life…”
“… Isabellina sounded more like live music.”
Source: Steve Guttenberg, CNET News
News
Red Wine Audio Unveils Ginevra™ LFP-V Edition Phonostage
Created for audiophiles who cherish vinyl records as the superior playback media, Ginevra features premium LFP battery power, plus a vacuum tube-stage.
Review
Newly released Signature 30.2 LFP-V Edition earns 5-stars!
Digital Audio Review’s John Darko compares and contrasts the Signature 30.2 LFP-V Edition to one of his 300B single-end picks. You may be surprised at what clean, fast LFP battery-power does for vacuum tubes!
“Red Wine Audio have made a near-flawless integrated amplifier that unflinchingly nails the holy trinity of detail, tube-like euphony and fast, tight bass… effortless, majestic, powerful and delicate. A stunning achievement.”
Source: John Darko, Digital Audio Review
News
RMAF 2010
Vinni Rossi will be at RMAF 2010 in the Marriott Tower Room 8012 - sharing the room with Zu Audio, Ken Ball of ALO Audio, Alex Rosson of Audeze, and the Cypher Labs team.
News
Red Wine Audio Unveils “LFP-V Edition” for New Sales and Customer Upgrades
Red Wine Audio battery-powered hi-fi components now include a vacuum-tube stage and are powered by premium LiFePO4 battery technology!
Review
Another award for Red Wine Audio’s Isabellina Headphone Amp / DAC Combo!
“…Red Wine Audio Isabellina is the best USB DAC / amp solution I have heard. There’s nothing more to say really, this is quite clearly the best sound I have heard coming out of my headphones, and by quite a margin.”
Source: Daryl Hoffman, Headphonista
Review
Amphora headphone amp receives Positive Feedback!
Amphora, marketed exclusively by ALO Audio, incorporates Red Wine Audio’s headphone stage. This reference quality headphone stage is used in our Isabellina HPA (integrated headphone amp / DAC), and is available as an option for our Isabella vacuum-tube preamplifier.
“I bought my review sample which translates into my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.”
Source: Jeff Parks, Positive Feedback Online
Review
Positive Feedback Online reviews Isabellina
“Isabellina gets music across in a way that is very rewarding in terms of its complexity of tonal and harmonic ‘rightness’. This complexity reveals itself as there being sense of “depth” or density to the music; not only in how the Isabellina portrays the sonic tapestry of the music, but the overall “presence” of the music as well. The Isabellina presents many layers to explore and does so with an ease and elegance that is very beguiling. There are no hard edges to the music… no grain or glare to turn one away from spending hours listening to one’s collection. No, the Isabellina is very refined while being rich, smooth, lush, and silky, all in the sense of being easy on the ears… as opposed to hard, thin, bland, closed-up, or austere.”
Source: Dave Clark, Positive Feedback Online
Review
Red Wine Audio’s Isabellina HPA receives SoundStage! “Reviewers Choice” award
“…it let me enjoy the music without feeling that I was listening through headphones, disconnected from reality. Its freedom from the AC grid allowed it to provide the purest music signal, elevating my enjoyment of what truly matters: the music.”
Source: Uday Reddy, SoundStage!
Review
Red Wine Audio’s Isabella receives Stereo Times Editor Award for “Most Wanted Components of 2009”!
In the Isabella vacuum-tube preamplifier, David Abramson finds his cure for upgraditis...
“Fleet of foot, compact, quiet, reliable and damnably low in coloration and seasoning, I’ve kept her around in preference to many a better known adversary. You’re gonna change amps; you’re gonna change wires- you’re gonna change speakers- hell, you’re an audiophile! So you owe it to yourself for once and all to have a centerpiece- a lynchpin- a piece around which everything else can turn. That’s Isabella!”
Source: Dave Abramson, Stereo Times
News
Red Wine Audio Unveils Black Lightning™ High-current Battery Power Supplies
First plug-and-play replacement for inferior stock AC power adaptors; brings out the full musical potential of your audio components!
Review
Jeff Dorgay, Publisher of TONEAudio Magazine, Finds Plenty of Sonic Advantages when Black Lightning
“I am a big believer in clean power, and the validity of good power cords, but I’ve never had this much improvement from any power cord or line conditioner.”
Source: Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio Magazine
Review
Stereo Times’ Dave Abramson reviews Isabella Preamp. So how does it fare?
Hint: Mr. Abramson ends up purchasing an Isabella for his personal use!
“…few preamps in my experience combine quietude, transparency to source, PRaT and tonal veracity with fuss-free operation and friendly, non-Machiavellian designers in quite the way Isabella does.”
Source: Dave Abramson, Stereo Times
News
Red Wine Audio Unveils Industry’s First Audiophile-class Battery-powered Headphone Amp/DAC Combo!
Two highly-acclaimed products united to create affordable solution for discriminating headphone users.
Review
The Red Wine Audio Signature 30.2 - winner of Stereo Times “Most Wanted Components of 2008” Award!
“Truly a sonic tour-de-force and NOT just at the price. This may be the finest all-around integrated I've heard.”
Source: David Abramson - Stereo Times
Review
TONEAudio reviews the Isabella!
“The tonality of the Isabella is excellent. I firmly believe this is due to the lack of grain from power supply artifacts coloring the signal.”
“The Isabella [combined with the Signature 30.2 power amp] will be tough to beat without spending a lot more money.”
Source: Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio [2.4mb PDF]
(Download full TONEAudio issue)
Review
6moons reviews Isabella!
“For guts, fleshiness and wallop — the Isabella delivers more than class leaders at twice her price.”
Source: Srajan Ebaen, 6moons.com
News
Red Wine Audio & WLM Loudspeakers will be at the 2008 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest
Please visit us in Room 543. We hope to see you there!
News
6moons reports on the Red Wine Audio / WLM Loudspeaker ‘collaboration’.
News
The Isabellina DAC is HERE!
News
The RWA Interconnects and Speaker Cables are HERE too!
Review
Stereo Times reviews the Signature 30.2
“Elegantly simple, functionally flawless and sonically whole, I couldn’t pass this one by. At the price, it strikes me as an utter sonic triumph and serves to remind me daily that different isn’t always better, though sometimes it very definitely is”
Source: David Abramson, Stereo Times
News
The Isabella has arrived!
Review
TheStreet.com reviews the Signature 30.2 and agrees with 6moons!
“Of all the amplifiers that I’ve tested in recent years, the Signature 30.2 is one of the best. Period.”
Source: Gary Krakow, TheStreet.com
News
Paul & Patrick Candy cover the 2008 FSI Show for 6moons (again)!
“After the show I asked Patrick to pick one overall favorite room and he chose this one [Red Wine/Omega] without hesitation. I asked why and he replied that he loved how Linkin Park sounded, especially the guitars. He said other speakers either smoother over the edges or sounded too bright and thin. Louis’ speakers made the guitars sound more real. He also said that these guys are fun to talk to and take him seriously and don’t treat him like a kid. I think there’s a lesson to be learned here, dontcha think?”
Source: Paul Candy, 6moons
News
The new Isabella tube preamplifier is featured on 6moons.
News
Festival & Son Image Expo 2008
On April 4th - 6th, we will be exhibiting at the Festival Son & Image Expo in the heart of downtown Montreal. Please visit us in Room 907, along with Omega Loudspeakers and Hudson Audio Imports.
Review
TONEAudio reviews the Signature 30.2 and keeps it!
“The 30.2 offers one of the most musical presentations at this price point… the 30.2 delivers the goods!”
Source: Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio [1.7mb PDF]
(Download full TONEAudio issue)
Review
It’s official!
Srajan Ebaen of 6moons has awarded the 4th ever Lunar Eclipse Award to the Red Wine Audio Signature 30.2!
Read the full review.
Review
Signature 30.2
The new Signature 30.2 gets the big nod from Srajan Ebaen of 6moons as one of his year’s Favorites. But wait, there’s more;
“Minimalist to the core, with top-notch parts and a deeply tweaked circuit, this amplifier has already sidelined $45,000/pr battery-powered monos, given $10,000/pr muscle amps the fly-bye finger and butted heads with first-rate tube amps. I’ll tip my hand and reveal prior to the full review conclusion that the 30.2 will walk away with a Lunar Eclipse Award in the new year, only the fourth one to be given out in our 5 years of operation.”
Source: Srajan Ebaen, 6moons
Review
The new Signature 70.2 upgrade is reviewed by Mike Smith on 6moons.
“The new 70.2 amplifiers will set the world on fire. Again.”
Source: Mike Smith, 6moons