Vitus integrated amp v 552/500

Thank you Dunc for such a detailed write up.

Just a thought, can you use the Vitus as an amplifier only ? Interesting to see if you can, and then test again going direct and have the Rossini acting as a preamp. driving the amp.

I know you though it was just too hard with the 500 to do this.

Might have better success with the Vitus ?

I do tend to agree. Very best wishes to @Dunc with his continued upgrade journey but I do get the sense that there is a something of a pre-determined outcome at play here with a decision to move away from Naim made a while ago and being implemented in stages. All absolutely fair enough if thatā€™s what the OP feels but I wouldnā€™t necessarily put too much store by the findings.

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thank you very much Dunc for the detailed write up.

wish you the best with your upgrade journey

Iā€™ve know several people with the current Gryphon Diablo 300. They share a few things in common:

  • Theyā€™ve all had faults and gone back to the manufacturer in the first year more than once.
  • The owners all swear by it anyway despite itā€™s reliability issuesā€¦
  • But then move it one after a 18 months

Another friend borrowed one to try with his Dynaudio C 3.4s and while he liked it, found that high end Accuphase was more his cup of tea.

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Well guys i can tell you know, if you had told me just ayear ago, that i probably wouldnā€™t have a single Naim box in my system, i would have said not a chance.
So if so, what has changed? Well for me it all started when i first went to try the ND555 as an upgrade for my NDS, that didnt work Ć nd ended up with the DCS Rossini. This opened me up to other great hifi brands i guess, rather than only just looking at the next best Naim box.
I also find it hard to get my head around how a one box Ā£19k integrated amp can sound this good, compared to my Ā£40K + 552/500, but i feel it does.
Maybe me as getting older has changed and the way i listen to music shifted, but i find all the extra details, the more real sound, etc, more appealing these days than the Naim sound.
It could also be that that i have climbed the Naim tree and got to the top and now looking for something else, i dont know really.

All i can say really is, this Vitus sia025 is a cracking box, it is very much worth a demo if you are looking for something different, and i can certainly tell you all, once i got my 500/552 i did think this was me sorted for a very long, i have only just (1 week ago) got myself a morgana cable that is now no good and that goes with the other 3 that i got not long ago and if i was thinking i would be moving it on, then i wouldnā€™t have spent over Ā£1200 on these.
I for one had some very big doubts that this would get close to the Naim and didnā€™t really believe all i was being told or read about it, but i can see why there is quite a few that have moved over from the 552/500 and it looks like a big percentage are x 500 series guys.

I have enjoyed my Naim systems very much over many years, but that door now looks shut for me.
Naim is still good, i just found something i prefer and now enjoying that.

Cheers dunc

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Itā€™s simple, the 552/500 is from 2002, and unchanged apart dr modifications.
Itā€™s still a very musical combo but too much expensive vs competition.
The only major pro factor is that despite that I have never heard more involving electronics than Naim.
For those who are addicted to the urgency, rhythm, and grip, like me, itā€™s difficult to change.
But we would want to have also textures, colors, naturalness, soundstaging that competition does beter.

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I know what you are saying and it does make you think all about it
If i didnt have my rossini, i would just get the Vitus sia030, put in the phono and dac modules and add speakers. This is as i have been told a cracking system and comes in under Ā£40k and i dont disbelieve it.

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Glad you like it Dunc, but i would take as much time as the dealer will allow before jumping ship. As others have pointed out, the love for this amp may wain and you might start missing the Naim sound. Anyway, all the best.

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The thing is once you try something else and especially the vitus sia range being true class A, the rhythm, the grip is all there along with much better soundstage, details, textures etc and you start to realise that the urgency it adds is not so great unless you play like i said rock music all the time, its been really nice listening ro my music and relishing as tracks that are just laid back and a bit slower now are, if they are ment to be.
Its hard to explain as you need to really try it for yourself, but at the same time you really need to leave your Naim head outside

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I have seen some people who left the Naim sound and then came back, but there are also people who finally have made their choices.

All the best with your decision, Dunc.

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Think that was aimed at the Gryphon diablo 300.
I certainly havenā€™t missed my NDS, SBLā€™s, etc and canā€™t see me missing the 500 right now

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Morning Dunc. As Gazza says above, but thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
You mentioned at one point, that the introduction of the 025 made you adjust your Facts positioning. Please would it be possible for you to elaborate on this? ATB Peter
I shall wait with my congratulations till your demo week has gone :+1:t3:

Sound like serial box swoppers :slight_smile:

The easy way to work that one out, John, is to have a listen for yourself :slight_smile: I jumped ship (to Gryphon) because I wanted something different from my hifi. All Duncā€™s observations are entirely in line with my own. I donā€™t know of any other gear that plays like Naim does and if thatā€™s your bag youā€™re on a winner. I was very happy for some years. Perhaps I just got a bit older! But if you want less boxes and a more effortless, but high level sound you have to make a change.

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Err - thatā€™s the first Iā€™ve read on the internet of Diabloā€™s going back to base for work. Theyā€™re massively over-engineered, beautifully finished and hold their used value as well as Naim does - which is saying something at the luxury end.

Your journey and your findings are a mirror of my own. The only flag Iā€™d fly, Dunc, is to warn against being led into buying something without checking one or two other brands. I almost made that mistake and it would have been very costly at every level. Accuphase is excellent; I went with Gryphon; Pass Labs also worth a look. Iā€™m confident I went with the best out there for me, considering all factors, because I demoā€™d other brands. That was critical for me because I donā€™t want to ever change gear again!

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Great to read how fired up you are about the Vitus sound and thank you for sharing your detailed observations. How are you finding it handles piano vs. Naim?

Like others, I recommend giving yourself time to get used to it after the initial wow. I fell for the Linn LK1/LK2 (with Linn Saras) on first acquaintance many years ago and, boy, was that a purchase I regretted!

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Mike, itā€™s funny you should mention piano. I saw Angela Hewitt last year, playing her Fazioli which shortly after was dropped by the removal people and had to be scrapped. That Fazioli has a very distinctive sound and the live sound was uncannily similar to the sound I get at home on her recordings played on the same instrument. The ability to render piano like the real thing is something Naim does incredibly well.

Iā€™d urge Dunc to really take his time on this decision. Itā€™s so easy to think something is clearly better only to discover over time that itā€™s merely different and that you are listening to music less. Thatā€™s not to say that the preference for Vitus wonā€™t persist for 10 or 20 years, simply to do whatever is possible to ensure that the decision is made with as much confidence as possible.

Iā€™ve tried various speakers and cables over the years. One example was Chord Odyssey, which I found much clearer and more organised than NacA5, with better detail and separation. It was only after a few months that I realised I was listening less and that my attention wandered from the music more readily. Once I reinstated the boring old Naim wires it was like the musical enjoyment and engagement had returned. Not such a big deal with Ā£200 wires, but a much bigger deal with a Ā£20,000 amplifier. I imagine the dealer wouldnā€™t be happy to do a six month home loan though!

I donā€™t subscribe to this concept of taste in hifi changing over time. It should render music as a real and natural thing. Musical tastes might change - mine certainly have - but the acid test is still whether it sounds real, whatever it might be.

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I agree with a lot of that. It is why I donā€™t believe short term blind A/B/X testing is useful.

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The Fazioli has a great sound and she was understandably heartbroken. And of course Steinways and Bosendorfers and Yamahas also have their own distinctive sounds. The big thing is that all of them are not just stringed instruments but percussion instruments. They have hammers that strike the keys. A lot of so-called high-end hi-fi misses that. Iā€™d certainly be interested to hear if Dunc finds the SIA025 an exception.