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!
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 Unveils First Commercially Produced Battery-powered “Monster Amp”
After two years in design and development, the Liliana Monoblocks top off a very busy year of new product introductions for Connecticut-based company.
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.”
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!).
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
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
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
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.”
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.”
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!
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
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
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