Vitus integrated amp v 552/500

Only records Michael…sold off my CDS3/555 about 5 years ago and have very little interest in streaming…

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Hi Michael, hope your on the mend now. If I were in your position and seeking a one box I’d definitely be auditioning the Soulution 530 against the Vitus. Knowing your system and a little about your musical tastes I think it Could just hit the spot with the Diapasons.
ATB,
Kevin

Hi Kevin! Have you heard it?

I’m not really looking to change anything. In fact I am heartily sick of all things hi-fi (apart from listening). It’s just I’m now very curious to see how this Vitus experiment goes. If it sounds better than the Naim to my ears and goes down half a dozen boxes, freeing up some of the space we don’t have, then so much the better. Ditto for the Soulution, though I’m not at all convinced I can be bothered to troll round the country auditioning gear.

You’ve also heard some Vitus amps if I recall, haven’t you? The thing is that I’ve never heard a Class A amp (or valve for that matter) that really did it for me, either rhythmically or for texture, especially with piano and cello, as much as they are very beguiling in other respects. I’d be delighted to revise my opinions, but…

PS: Can see the light at the end of the tunnel now (and am reasonably sure it’s not an oncoming train)

Good to hear that it’s not a train :crazy_face:!
I’ve only briefly heard a Vitus in an unfamiliar system and I don’t think it was a recent model and not sure it was a Class A type either, so no worthwhile experience tbh. I’ve not heard the 530, but I understand that it’s pretty much the 500 series pre/power (which I have auditioned) shoehorned into a single box - though at 15 inches tall it’s a bit of a technicality to call it ‘one box’! There is a slightly smaller 330 integrated from the range below, but I’ve not heard any of that series.

I was very impressed with the 500 pre/power though and if starting from scratch I might even choose it (or maybe the 530) over the 552/500. Sounded excellent on all genres and no doubt IMO that it did big Orchestral better than the Naim. Probably Piano was better too. It’s a totally different approach to Vitus though. It uses Switch mode power amps, so 2400 environmentally friendly Watts peak that your Diapasons might enjoy…

p.s. Not too difficult to audition in normal times. The West London dealer that shares my initials stock them. Ask for Pete (and nobody else!)

Good luck Dunc. Hopefully the proper voltage setting on the Vitus will allow the Rossini to show its stuff.

By the way my Rossini might be arriving this week - Master Clock in two more weeks.

Mark - you need to dip your toes into the digital lake of streaming - the water is fine :wink:

Best
Gregg

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Look forward to hearing how this changes things… I’d be surprised if it didn’t :slight_smile:

Gregg- presently faffing about with a new phono pre…but who knows-never say never :grinning:
Has your Nait2 hit your doorstep yet?

So, if I am understanding this thread correctly, an amp, which is set to the wrong input setting voltage initially sounded better than an amp which was badly set up. Now the second amp is set up correctly there is very little difference, but we find that wasn’t a fair analysis either!

I can’t wait until the next instalment :joy: :joy: :joy:

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No :persevere: The last update was a week ago Tuesday indicated as processing in customs in NY. 9 days processing - makes it hard to acquiesce each time the post office asks for a bailout :wink:

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Well PB, this thread is beginning to look a lot like ‘ The end of my tether’- thread, but hey at 530 posts we seem to finally be ‘ getting there…‘ :+1:t3::joy::wine_glass: Cheers Peter

I am expecting the next post to be something like, “ I have just realised my speakers aren’t connected” :rofl::rofl:

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I gave up on that thread, you couldn’t take him seriously.

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It’s got a long way to go to beat ‘searching for new speakers, maybe’ or ‘my jaw has hit the floor’. These new boys have nothing on the old diehards.

Yes, but they do seem to have stamina. Remember the Ethernet cables thread? Oh, I wish I hadn’t thought of that.

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That’s true. The ability to say the same thing seemingly an infinite number of times.

Well guys it looks more like it was all my fault and goes to show you should pay more attention when unplugging cables and make sure you put them back into the right ones lol.

So back we go to the beginning as i think this all needs explaining.
A week ago the vitus sia025 came along and got installed in place off the 552/500.
At this point i had both my rossini and rega aura connect by balanced xlr cables into input 1 and 2.
Loved the sound it gave, especially once warmed up, you can go back and read what i found, if you want, or dont know, as its worth looking at.
After a few fays enjoying the vitus, i decided to swap back to the naim, and yes it was not as good, then i spent some time dressing the cables and got it all much better and sounding good.
At this point i decided to try the vitus again and was shocked to find it was no better, some tracks sounded better on the naim and a few on the vitus, but certainly not now i first found the vitus.
So then i just about decided that naim was staying as not worth the hassle swapping, plus i had the naim sounding great and was all back in as best it could be.
Then on the dcs forum, as i have a similar thead going on there, a guy posted about the input voltage selection on the vitus, and sure enough it was set at the standard 4 volts on input 1 and all the other inputs apart from imput 2, as that was set to 8 volts.
Anyway i had when i re set the vitus up, plugged into input 1, whereas it was in input 2 before, this resulted in a bit off distortion, which i could hear on certain tracks, but only a few, but basically as the rossini was set to 6volts output and the vitus set to 4 volts max input, this cause the problem.
Today i went in and adjusted all the settings and once again it is doing what it did first time round.
So very pleased to find the problem.
The only problem know is, it looks like i got move all my rack again so the vitus can go in, but this time stay.

Hope this clears up things, as its been a rollercoaster ride as normal.
Cheers dunc

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Just to add, the only stumbling block i need to over come now is heat.
As left this on this afternoon to start to warm up, yes i left it in class A and un muted, this is the worst way to have it, for heat. But this evening it has certainly warmed the room up, so much so my wife commented on how hot it was in the front room, plus for the very first time, the fan on the 500 was running, as even thats warm, as i have the vitus sitting in front off it, about 6 inches away and the front fins are warm, along with the top. But as said never heard the fan in the 500 before and it made me look where the noise was coming from.

So thats the only real negative i have really, love the difference in sound, love the simplicity off it, just hate the heat it give off, but then in winter it will be good lol

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I actually have a customer who has a Pass labs class A amp and he only uses it in the winter due to the heat it generates in the room

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When you say “this time stay”, does it mean you have chosen it vs 552/500 ?
If I understood correctly

Yes, got to really as I just prefer the sound, and it’s hard to go back to the naim even now as it just doesn’t sound right now. Plus I know I can also improve on it quite easily as well it looks like, as hearing from other owners that made the switch, I can change a few things that are more suited to the naim and it will make the vitus even better, so fun times ahead it looks like

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