Vitus integrated amp v 552/500

A Nap500DR and then i am ready to retire:)

Yep, but in mitigation it’s only half the amplifier, and I still have the 250 and the 135s.

And the Bariks.

And, as I said, at the end of the day, its what you, the end user, actually enjoys.

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Perfectly understandable in that company…

Indeed. But can one be married to an engaging sound?

Some people have besmirched the Vitus because it is an integrated amp. But I wonder if that is missing a technical detail. A Vitus owner can perhaps confirm whethervor not my impression is right - sadly the Vitus website isn’t full of details, and even the specs aren’t complete, and no reviews going into much detail. So:

From what little technical information is available, it does not have conventional analogue source sensitivities of 100mV or thereabouts, its highest sensitivity input being 2V. It appears to be made very much for output from digital devices, though of course it would take any analogue input that is high enough. Again limited by the information available, I guess that output of a phono stage - which is a preamp - might well be fine but need the volume control turning up a lot higher than digital sources.

To look at it another way, in comparison with conventional pre and power amps, it appears that this is more like a power amp with volume control and switchable inputs, rather than an integrated amp in the conventional sense. Now that to me seems eminently sensible.

Well playing music all day and this thing is just getting better and better, actually loving the A/B mode, loads off details still, great sound stage still and adds a bit off grit and ruthness to it, then click it into class A for that lovely warm, smooth sound to it all.
Even managed to changed the display, from line 1 and line 2, it now reads rossini and rega p10, cool.
Going to pre set the volume levels for each input next, so they are the same when you switch between them, so many things you can do on this and every input has its own unique settings

… and i am indeed enjoying my active 552/500/SL2 NDS LP12 NAT01 system immensely. I’m too old to be testing out what else is out there that ‘may’ be ‘better’ (there are so many alternatives???) . but i have no objection to anyone who does. your money, your choice.

in connection with reference to Naim ‘sheep’ – all i can say is, hey, what’s new?! this hasnt happened before!

enjoy(ooops!)/ken

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"Wave upon wave of demented avengers
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream . . . "

(One of my favorite lines from ANY album!!)

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This is how Naim compares to the rest according to the German magazine Audio. No surprise.

I have no idea what that means.

It’s a ranking of reviewed preamps by them. Naim scores at the very top. Since Naim preamps are designed to work as a system with the amp they paired it with a 300. The 552 should be better, but the one they reviewed was the 252. Naim is amongst the very best. I’m very happy with a similar system.

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Glad to see that although it is the most expensive as well it seems

Actually I think is is a ranking of complete amplifiers - and all the others that I know of in the list are integrateds, so they have compared a Naim pre+power with a bunch of integrated amps, but apparently not any other pre+power combination. How odd. And I wonder what were the criteria of scoring…?

Interesting. I’m currently doing a home demo of the Gryphon 120. It is an impressive integrated amp for its price - strong, solid bass, very good medium with lots of information and sweet highs. It can also PRaT pretty well.

This said, in terms of finesse and musicality it is a far cry from my 552/300DR. It may be reasonably close to a 252/non-DR 300, I tend to agree.

Claude

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The best is T+A, which is German. No surprise from a German magazine.
Symphonic line has the same rank( 138 points) as Naim ( 252/300). At 1/3 of the cost.
German brand too.
Conclusion: Just an audio magazine.

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What criteria what ears what expectations

Means nothing without using own ears own sources cables and speakers music and room

I think, based on the passion used to describe our feelings about hifi on this Forum, yes !

And any subsequent “divorce” is often acrimonious :sunglasses:

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Not sure how the marriage is consumated?

It isn’t. That’s what makes the divorce so easy !

Feeding the rumour mill! :slight_smile: