SOLD: Vinnie Rossi LIO (rare) for sale!

** SOLD **

I am selling my beloved Vinnie Rossi LIO front end. This is a rare unique unit which I bought new from Vinnie in Dec 2020, and it is the perfect one-box solution for many high end systems, or an office headphone rig (which was my main use). It is the silver/white (beautiful!) in like-new condition with zero scratches, and rated 8/10 only due to age (it’s only 2 years old).

What is the LIO? It is a super linestage that is effectively battery powered; its backbone is two banks of huge ultracapacitors that power the unit, providing pure DC for complete silence / clean power, technically no longer needing power conditioners, etc. At max volume, this unit is SILENT. The blackest of backgrounds, which you want as far upstream in the audio chain as possible. I used this as a front-end to drive my amplifier, or at other times to directly drive my Audeze/ZMF headphones using its 4-pin XLR headphone amplifier. This has Vinnie’s TOTL L2 DAC and L2 phono (many others only have the V1 DAC). Using this with my Rega P8 + Apheta 3 combo and Aurender music server, this is one of the most transparent, dynamic, musical and detailed components I’ve ever heard; see below for reviewer comments / links.

What makes this unit unique and rare even compared to other LIO units? When I bought this from Vinnie, it was already well after he transitioned from the LIO line and was well into only selling his much higher priced L2/L2SE products, and was developing his current Brama line. As such, he put in parts from that and sold me this as a “super LIO”. This includes:

  • Latest generation LIO system + software with the silent switching capacitor system (no clicking sounds, unlike older units),
  • L2 volume control (fully silent and more transparent than any other LIO AVC/RVC, this was not an option for LIO builds),
  • L2 DAC, considered a competitive “giant killer” against other big name DACs (e.g. better than my Resolution Audio Cantata), with the highly sought-after AKM AK4497EQ chips which were stopped after the AKM factory fire in 2021,
  • L2 Phonostage, considered also competitive against other $5-8k phonostages, and has complete loading adjustments from the remote control (no DIP switches!!) plus extra bandwidth MC gain up to 72(!!) dB,
  • Latest LIO tubestage w/ 6922 tubes (unity gain following the volume control) to allow tube rolling,
  • LIO headphone amplifier w/ 4-pin XLR balanced output,
  • New silver machined remote from the L2 preamplifier, which allows source/volume control, as well as adjusting cartridge loading, DAC filter, etc.

The unit has RCA outputs. Does not have additional line inputs, but the input module can be added if you need more than DAC/phono. Mosfet amplifier can also be added. DHT stage can be added from Vinnie if you so choose, but due to my other tubed components I did not want a SET 2A3 front end / risk of more microphonics or noise. This comes with the original shipping box / packaging, manual, custom power supply, and a transferrable 5 year warranty (until end of 2025). Non-smoking household. No one has ever touched this component other than myself. Original MSRP ($2495 + 1495 + 695 + 3495 + 3495) exceeds $11,675 (I only included the AVC price, but the L2 volume must be even higher). The unit ships with the original JJ 6922 tubes, but I will also include an extra set of 1975 Reflektor 6N23P Silver Shield single getter plate tubes (which I bought in 2022 from a well-known Head-Fi member), which are considered “Holy Grail” tubes for 6922 line stages, but the last time I used this one of the tubes might have some noise, possibly from a dirty pin.

Only selling because, due to system synergy, I moved onto multiple $$ separates (plus $$ interconnects and power cords!) that cost way more but are only marginally different.

Price lowered to $5700 or best offer including domestic shipping within the U.S. For a quick sale to a good home among my headphone brethren. This is the lowest price I have seen with both L2 phono and DAC components; Vinnie’s subsequent products (Brama and L2 signature preamplifier) with the same L2 modules cost $35k and $20k.

Thanks for looking!!