VINNIE ROSSI FIRST IN AUSTRALIA
Products from US designer Vinnie Rossi are now available in Australia for the very first time. They’re being distributed by Melbourne’s Audio Magic. Vinnie Rossi, a US-based electrical engineer, founded Red Wine Audio in 2004, then closed it down in 2014 when he established his eponymous company—Vinnie Rossi—to further his ‘LIO’ modular concept that gives owners the ability to add features and upgrades to existing products at any time. ‘ It is designed for long-term ownership, with the ability to easily configure it for your current and future needs,’ says Rossi. All Vinnie Rossi products are built in the USA and come with a 10-year warranty. ‘ I embrace a “less-is-more” approach, using purist circuit topologies that eschew high parts count in favour of elegant simplicity and using the highest quality components throughout,’ Rossi told Australian HiFi Magazine. ‘ I am fanatical about utilising isolated, ultra-low impedance power supply designs as a necessity in achieving the finest sonic results.’
The first product to go on sale in Australia was the LIO Integrated amplifier. The LIO uses Vinnie Rossi’s ‘ultra-capacitor’ power supply, which he calls ‘PURE DC-4-EVR’ which completely isolates the amplifier’s audio circuitry from a.c. mains power by using two capacitor banks. While one bank is being charged by the 240V mains, the other is being used to power the amplifier. Once the charge in the powering bank is depleted, the charged bank is disconnected from the mains, and connected to the amplifier, while the depleted bank is then re-connected to the mains, using what Rossi calls ‘Silent Switching’ technology.
‘ Vinnie Rossi continues to push the limits of sonic performance and is fanatical about utilising isolated, ultra-low impedance power supply designs,’ says Aleksandar Maksimovic, of Audio Magic. ‘ Music flows from LIO in the most natural way, free of grain and background noise, with its vanishingly low output impedance ensuring the highest possible current to deliver stunning transient attack with bass that is extended and impactful, yet tight and well-defined.’ The LIO has a high-current Class-AB MOSFET output stage that is rated at 25-watts per channel into 8 loads, 45-watts per channel into 4 loads and 65-watts per channel into 2 loads. ‘ It can drive real-world speaker loads, even those dipping below 4 ohms, with stunning clarity and linearity,’ said Maksimovic. ‘ Ideal for listeners who favour quality over quantity, it is fast on its feet and deeply musical. It conveys the true emotion from your recordings, even at lower listening levels, that few amplifiers can rival.’ Available now, it retails for $7,990 (RRP). For further information, please contact Audio Magic on (03) 9489 5122 or visit www.audiomagic.com.au