#11
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Bodhi , congrats and glad you are getting on well with the Vitus . I know it to be a refined amp , but how does the dynamics compare to the your Boulder pre/power ? Enjoy the ride .
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#12
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Thanks for your comments Actually in the latest review for HiFi Critic, Martin Colloms measured the S5's at 88db efficiency into a nominal 4 ohm load with a 2.4ohm dip, so i'd describe them as a moderate load. The Vitus does a great job of controlling the S5's. Btw, I like the xa-100.5's. Matched with the right speakers, they produce warm, tube-like liquidity and midrange bloom without tubey colorations. They also look stunning imho Cheers, |
#13
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The Boulder is tomb quiet, has excellent control and bass and is overall natural sounding. It is not clinical or dry sounding like Spectral, and is neutral in tonal balance. If anything it is on the very slightly warm side of neutral. The CD-5s with mil-spec tubes and burson op amps added some tube virtues of warmth, sweetness, liquid sound and holography. Sound stage depth and width were excellent. That's not to overstate the influence of the Ayon. The sound was dominated by the Boulder. I would say the Vitus is more delicate and warmer sounding overall. Once the 025 has been running for a few hours it becomes wonderfully pure and tube-like (though without the normal tube colorations). You just forget about the amp and enjoy the music. The Boulder otoh always makes you aware of it's presence, like a percussionist playing Timpani in an orchestra. That may be due to the Boulder's more forward presentation and predominant bass. The Vitus also has strong, deep bass but it is somehow more in harmony with the music. Coming back to your original question re: dynamics. The Vitus has a large and efficient UI-core transformer and is a very high current amp. It is also very fast, so it is capable of properly controlling the S5's and matching them for speed. In saying that my Vitus, S5's, and most of my cables only have around 150hrs on them at this stage, so it's too early to offer any meaningful opinion on how the two amps compare. Hope that helps! Last edited by Bodhisattva; 12-23-2013 at 09:11 PM. |
#14
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Cheers, Ken |
#15
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out of curiosity did have you compared the SIA-025 in class AB to that of the RI-100? I am wondering just how they compare in that mode as I assume they are a very similar topology but with some very different hardware (such as the transformers and I assume caps,etc). More of a audio hobby interest as I would use the SIA-025 mostely in class A like yourself, but definitely would be interesting to know just how close or what sounds better in AB (appreciate SI-100 is only AB). Thanks for the review and photos Cheers Orb |
#16
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Yes I agree Class A has a warmth and fluidy to it that is addictive. Gaining the benefit of hearing different amp/speaker combinations in your Dealer's showroom is a big advantage as is allows you to firstly discover what sounds good to you & gain from your Dealer's experience. Basically that's how I got to know the Vitus amps and Magico speakers. My Dealer always has both brands in the showroom, and i've had numerous opportunities to see, touch and heard those combinations and ask questions. I was really impressed by the SIA-025, loved the S5's, and had already heard the Q1's sound haunting with the SIA-025, SCD-025 and Siltech Royal Sig series cables, so I knew what to expect. The Aesthetix Romulus has really surprised me. For the money, it is a beautifully put together tube player. The fact that is sounds beautiful seems to be a result of cause and effect. To me, it sounds natural, well balanced & liquid/free sounding. Music flows really nicely. It is obvious Aesthetix invested most of thier money in the circuit design. There is very good attention to detail. To quote Yogi Bear...smarter than the average bear! Last edited by Bodhisattva; 12-25-2013 at 03:50 AM. |
#17
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I haven't compared the RI-100 and SIA-025 operating in Class a/b side by side, but I have heard them on several occasions separately. It is easy to detect the differences however. Firstly the two amps are quite different. The SIA-025 as I mention in my review uses a potted, floating UI-core transformer co-designed with & custom made by one of the best transformer designers in Denmark. The UI-core transformers are used exclusively in Vitus's Signature & Masterpiece series amps. The Reference Series use traditional toroidal transformers. Toroids only have two advantages over Vitus' UI-core, they being price and size. In every other way the UI-core is more refined, and much more efficient. Also, the signature series parts are qualified to a higher level of specification compared to the Ref series. The SIA-025 is a true balanced dual mono amp, whilst the Ref series is not. The 025 operates in class a, the Ref series does not. The 025's preamplifier stage is made from one single "buffer" module which is also used in the SL-102 preamp, whilst the output stage is drawn from the SM-010 mono amps. So whilst I regard the Ref series amps as very good, they can't touch the SIA-025. The RI-100 sounds powerful, has that analogue-like Vitus house sound, but I would say it is on the slightly dark side of neutral, and just a touch warm. In comparison to the SIA-025 it sounds a bit more 'raw' and less refined. But taken for what it is, it is an excellent value imho. The SIA-025 operating is class a/b is still warmer sounding that the RI-100 and sounds remarkably good. I suspect it is highly biased in class a, meaning at low volumes it sounds very close to the 025 operating in class a mode, but loses a bit of warmth, clarity and sweetness from the music. At higher volumes and after several hours run time the difference becomes more obvious. Having the ability to switch from class a to class a/b is a cool feature. I switch over to class a/b for movies & background listening mainly. Cheers, Last edited by Bodhisattva; 12-25-2013 at 03:51 AM. |
#18
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It sounds like you have a great dealer over there in Melbourne. It is a big advantage hearing everything you want to purchase in the same location. It really helps to take the guess work out of the equation. You knew what you wanted and you got it...awesome! I've heard the Romulus multiple times and I'm always impressed with its smooth and organic sound, and its tremendous build quality. I've had the opportunity to speak with Jim White in person about it. He's a very talented designer with his "new school" tube circuitry that perfectly toes the line between accuracy and warmth. He's also not afraid to leverage the skills of other designers to get the results he wants, including Charles Hansen of Ayre Acoustics for zero negative feedback and Gordon Rankin of Wavelength Audio for asychronous USB. Happy Holidays and Enjoy the Music! Ken |
#19
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Merry Christmas to you and your family. Regards, |
#20
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Hi David, I would like to say thanks for a great review.
I'm new to the forum, and interested in this amplifier as an upgrade into hopefully what could be my end game set up. Currently i'm running a pair of Parasound JC-1s into Paradigm S8s. The JC-1s have the nice class A sound and is highly biased into class A for the first 25W (and class AB for the rest of the 400W). I was wondering with the Vitus, in class A mode, does it do the same thing, ? ie move automatically from class A to AB, or is 25W the limit? Which would make me worry about clipping into distortion etc. Whilst the S8s are quite efficient speakers, I would want to upgrade them as well in the near future, perhaps to Evolution Acoustics MMMiniTwos or Magico S5 / Q3. That is if i can ever find a dealer in Sydney that can demo them... |
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