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| Model: | RIO-5 II |
| Category: | Accessory |
| Suggested Retail Price: | $605 |
| Description: | Minus Ion Generator |
| Manufacturer URL: | Acoustic Revive |
| Review by Quint (A) on May 13, 2007 at 08:12:42 IP Address: 152.163.100.16 | Add Your Review for the RIO-5 II |
Truth be told, I’ve been the victim of fancy claims and slick marketing more than a few times—be it with audio, cutlery, cars, whatever. As far as audio is concerned, though, I now try to get things either with an audition period or an outright money-back guarantee. Granted, with some really esoteric gear, that’s just not possible, so thorough research and a leap of faith are sometimes required. Some times I’ve been burned by disappointing gear, but most times not.The Acoustic Revive RIO-5 II Minus Ion Generator definitely requires a large leap of faith—Grand Canyon wide, IMO. AR makes some interesting claims for it, boasting dramatic increases in S/N ratio and dynamics, and even fresher air (an important consideration for eco-friendly audiophiles!) These claims are made all the more difficult to decipher by the website description, which obviously was written by a non-native speaker and redefines the word “questionable.” (The instructions that come with the unit are no more helpful, as they’re written in Japanese.) The claimed effectiveness of the RIO seems to revolve around the use of Tourmaline, from which negative ions are extracted by heating the Tourmaline with a built-in halogen lamp. How these ions work is anyone’s guess. I’ll leave it up to the more technically minded here to dissect AR’s claims.
Despite having serious doubts (compounded by the RIO’s lofty retail of $605 shipped), I was intrigued enough by Mike Silverton’s UltraAudio review to see if I could get one in for audition—contingent, of course, on whether I could return the unit if I wasn’t totally satisfied. Plus, I really liked the Furutech RD-2 CD demagnetizer, which is basically an AR design. So I turned to all-around good guy Brian Kyle, who owns Xtreme Cables & Xtreme AV Companies (http://www.xtremecables.com) and is the maker of cables and the acclaimed QuickSilver Gold contact enhancer and excellent Liquid Resolution CD treatment. Brian offered to take the RIO back if I didn’t like it—I think he’s now offering a 10-day money-back guarantee—so I decided, what the hell, I have nothing to lose except a few dollars return shipping.
The unit arrived a few days ago, and I’ve been playing with it ever since. First off, the thing looks like a small halogen footlight—something Johnny Cash might have smashed at the Grand ‘Ol Opry way back when. :)
Basically, here’s how it works. On the back, it has a rocker switch to turn the unit on and off, and a little red button to start the process. When you turn it on, a fan goes on for about 10 seconds and then turns off. (Joe Cohen at the Lotus Group, importer of AR products, as well as Oyaide and a few others, says that the RIO needs about ten minutes of warm-up time before use.) You then place the CD on top of a mesh grill separating the disc from the Tourmaline pellets below, and press the switch. The fan goes back on, and the red light illuminates. When the fan stops and the light goes out, the process is complete. Joe claims that only the label side needs to be treated, but both Brian and I have found that treating both sides enhances the effect.
Before I describe the effects, I should mention the music I used: my longtime go-to disc, Dire Straits’ self-titled first album; Badfinger’s awesome 1973 self-titled effort; Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged”; and the Jayhawks’ “Hollywood Town Hall.” All four discs had been Nespa’d months before, and I was curious to see whether the RIO-5 could build on the dramatic improvements wrought by that device.
Having talked to Joe Cohen and read the Silverton review, I’m not sure what I was expecting. Maybe a slight improvement, possibly nothing. From the first few bars of “I Miss You,” from the Badfinger disc, it was apparent to me that I seriously underestimated the RIO, largely because of the difficult-to-confirm claims made by Acoustic Revive. Pete Ham’s warm, smooth tenor was now more present and alive than I had ever heard from this particular disc. The song is recorded very well, and even untreated the disc reveals the studio space in which Ham is singing quite effectively. After RIOing, though, the space was much more clearly delineated, and Ham’s voice was edged more clearly and cleanly, while paradoxically gaining in warmth and naturalness.
The same things held true for all the other discs I treated. The RIO has an uncanny ability to reveal the a particulars of the performance space, which was very much in evidence on the Nirvana disc. Curt Cobain’s voice gained clarity, texture, and warmth, while the space of the venue was, again, much more clearly specified. Dimensionality improved as well, voices and guitars taking on a resonance and shimmer I simply didn’t hear without the RIO.
Questionable claims and seemingly high price aside, the RIO-5 II does work—at least in my system. It doesn’t seem to add anything negative to the sound, something you always want out of tweak, but it doesn’t necessarily ADD anything, either. It simply reveals more of what’s on your CDs, particularly in terms of spatial information. The success of the RIO-5—and the RGC-24 Ground Conditioner, which I plan to review soon—in my system has definitely left me impressed with Acoustic Revive and its philosophy, even if said philosophy isn’t that easily discerned on their website or in their instructions. Pretty cool stuff.
| Product Weakness: | Pretty pricey as far as tweaks go. Not much information out there about how to use it properly. |
| Product Strengths: | Does a great job in defining the acoustic space and bringing out the natural warmth and texture of a recording. |
| Associated Equipment for this Review: | |
| Amplifier: | Dussun V-8i |
| Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | None |
| Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Oppo DV-970 (modified) |
| Speakers: | Von Schweikert VR-4 Gen III HSE |
| Cables/Interconnects: | Jena Labs |
| Music Used (Genre/Selections): | Rock/pop |
| Room Size (LxWxH): | 24 x 20 x 7 |
| Room Comments/Treatments: | Minimal |
| Time Period/Length of Audition: | 5 days |
| Other (Power Conditioner etc.): | Jena Labs |
| Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
Follow Ups:
Very nice/detailed review Quint.The RIO-5 ll certainly sounds interesting and from your review, does seem to have a positive effect on CD's that R treated with it. Have U tried treating a DVD to see if there are any visual improvements?
If your setup to playback vinyl, it would be interesting to see if there R any benefits on records.Since I make my living repairing and maintaining equipment that changes gas molecules into positively charged ions and implanting these ions into silicon substrates, I may be able to shed some light on the operating aspects of the RIO-5 ll.
A positively charged ion is a molecule that has lost one or more of it's valence shell electrons and thus is termed a posively charged ion. This ion is now easily attracted to a magnetic field or an electrostatic field since it is trying to regain the lost valence shell electron(s).
A negatively charged ion is a molecule that has additional valence shell electrons with respect to it's natural molecular structure and these electrons are easily given up when in close proximity of a positively charged ion or an electrostatic field and will neutralize that field.
The best I can surmise is that when the RIO-5 ll is used, it will neutralize any electrostatic charge build-up on the CD/DVD and this will allow the laser to more accurately read the data on the CD/DVD which results in less error correction needed in the laser readback circuitry.
In addition, just what role the Tourmaline plays is somewhat strange. As per Wikipedia "Tourmaline crystals when warmed become positively charged at one end and negatively charged at the other." This seems at odds with the Minus ion generator product description.
I've included the Wikipedia link for further perusing.
$600 is a bit steep for a CD tweak but then again, there is the Audio Desk Systeme for $699 which trues the shape of the CD and trims the edge to 38 degrees. I heard a demo of this unit and damded if it didn't change the sound for the better!
Cheers,
~kenster
Thanks, Kenster!Well, you certainly seem eminently qualified to explain exactly what the RIO does. Personally, it's way over my head, but I find one thing interesting: If it's working on eliminating electrostatic charges, then why do destatic devices like the Walker Talisman and AR's own RD-3 seem to build on the benefits of the RIO? Wouldn't they operate on the same principle and thus be redundant?
I HAVE tried it on DVDs, but not vinyl. (It would be tough to do on LPs, because they're so much bigger than CDs, and the RIO isn't nearly big enough for the whole disc to lie atop of--not even close, in fact.) It seems to have an equally significant effect on video, yielding greater color contrast, deeper blacks, and better edge definition. The audio on DVDs is also better, of course.
That Tourmaline link was very interesting. Thanks. I don't know exactly how AR utilizes it in the RIO, but however it's used, the net effect is positive.
A day? An hour? Or, does the positive effect diminish from first track to last?
It doesn't seem to diminish across the disc. I'm not sure if it ever diminishes--I haven't had it long enough to confirm one way or the other--but I'll keep on top of it.
To minimize the fallibility of memory: If you have identical copies of a disc (that also sound identical), perhaps you can treat one copy with RIO and then periodically check to see if the sonic differences between the two copies diminishes with the passage of time. In the meantime, you can do blind tests with your friends to see if they also detect the differences you reported in your review. Any idea how many treatments the RIO unit is good for?
if this produces the same effect people claim for ion generators like the Ionic Breeze? I have seen several comments that using one in the listening room improved the sound.
Ionic Breeze puts out dangerous levels of Ozone.
Read article...
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Shares of Sharper Image fell nearly 9 percent on Tuesday after Consumer Reports magazine renewed criticism on one of its popular air purifiers in its May issue.
The magazine, hitting newsstands on Tuesday, said that Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze Quadra Silent Air Purifier and four other similar air purifiers fail to significantly clean the air -- some can also expose users to potentially harmful ozone levels.
Consumer Reports said it tested ionizing air cleaners for ozone levels and for their ability to remove dust, cigarette smoke and pollen from the air, and Sharper Image's Professional Series Ionic Breeze Quadra SI737 SNX is one of five products that was ineffective as air cleaners.
Four other models included Brookstone Pure-Ion, Ionic Pro CL-369, IonizAir P4620 and the Surround Air XJ-2000.
The magazine also said that people with asthma or respiratory allergies are especially sensitive to indoor ozone, an irritant that can worsen asthma, deaden sense of smell, raise sensitivity to pollen and mold, and may cause permanent lung damage.
The May issue is being published only two months after Sharper Image agreed to pay Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, $525,000 in legal costs after a federal judge dismissed a libel lawsuit alleging the publisher printed false information in an October 2003 article about the Ionic Breeze's ability to reduce airborne particles.
"It is astonishing that Consumers Union would continue its misguided efforts to attack the judgment and experience of millions of Americans who are satisfied with the performance of the Ionic Breeze products," Sharper Image's lawyer E. Robert Wallach said in a statement.
But Consumer Reports said it stands behind its findings.
The magazine told CNN/Money that "it is ludicrous to suggest that Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, 'attacks' consumers." "(We) stand by its testing and reporting on air cleaners, (and it) has provided its expert, independent assessment of several air cleaners that claim to trap charged particles on oppositely charged plates."
Honestly, I'm not sure. Acoustic Revive's description is, to put it charitably, pretty hard to follow. I had an Ionic Breeze in my listening room for a few months, but I didn't notice an improvement in sound quality. Not sure how the RIO works, but work it certainly does . . . in MY system, at least.
Upgrade your Furutech RD2 to a real Acoustic Revive RD3.
It is way better ;-)
I upgraded to the Walker Talisman, which is also way better than the RD2, and a lot easier to use.
Mike Silverton noted in his review that the RIO enhanced the RD3 treatment. What sonic improvements, if any, did RIO add to the CDs which you first treated with the Talisman?
The RIO definitely DID enhance the effect of the Talisman, adding further improvements in dimensionality, resolution, and overall texture. (I would say that half the discs I tried were Talisman'd prior to RIOing. The other half were untreated.) I also tried the Talisman *after* the RIO, and it deepened the sense of bass considerably.
nt
For those interested, here are both Acoustic Revive's and Extreme's websites. The latter, which I provided in my review, apparently isn't working.http://www.acoustic-revive.com/english/rio5/rio5_01.html
http://www.xtremecables.com/products.php?cat=43
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