Pass or VAC for Magico

Mike said:
Yes. And their Masterpiece series is better yet again.


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Mike,

How would you compare, in terms of mono blocks, the Pass XS300 to Vitus Signature Line and Masterpiece Line for Magico?
 
byrdparis said:
Hi.
i see that you've got the SIA25, do you feel its holding the S5mk2 to its max?
do you listen to a full orchestral pieces and getting all that energy come out?
i know its turning to 100 AB after the first 25A, but does it enough for your liking?
i'm asking just to get a perspective idea from S line users for their amplification choices and what they feel for power needs.

thanks for advance.
A.
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If the question is do I feel the SIA-025 Mk1 is able to get the maximum potential out of the S5 Mk2's, If i'm completely honest, the answer is no. In my opinion the SS-103 and SL-103 would sound quite a bit better and have more power and control. Beyond that combo, the economics of upgrading to better amps doesn't make sense without a speaker upgrade. With that said, if you have limited rack space and a finite budget, the current SIA-025 Mk2 can more than hold its own driving the S5 Mk2's. FYI, the SIA-025 Mk2 has slightly greater capacitance than the Mk1 and is rated at 150 watts Kl.A/B. Kl.A power is the same, so it's just a minor difference.

Most of my listening experience with the SIA-025 has been with the S5 Mk1 which is a slightly tougher load compared to the S5 Mk2. In my medium size listening room I could run the Vitus in Kl.A full time playing 2 channel music & it never broke a sweat on even hard rock like Rage against the Machine. I only switched the amp to Kl.A/B mode watching movies or for background listening. It has a very efficient 1.4kVa UI-core transformer which feels like a big 2kVa tranny. It uses a simplified version of the relay-based analogue volume control in the SL-102 and has 99 steps. So, really good.

Sonically, the SIA-025 sounds warm and liquid in Kl.A mode. It is the most tube-like ss integrated amp i've heard (though I haven't heard them all). Certainly it is the most tube-like Vitus amp, followed closely by the previous model SS-102. It needs plenty of time to warm up and continues to sound more tube-like the longer it plays over a day's listening session and into the night. By that I mean It just starts to sound more fluid, delicate and articulate the longer the session goes. Pairing it with the SCD-025Mk2 creates even greater musical harmony. A wonderful combo!

I have tried several amps with the Magico S line including the Vitus RI-100, Aesthetix Atlas, Rowland Continuum, Rowland 625/Corus, Dartzeel CTH-8550, Dart NHB-108/18NS, Soulution 5 series and Audia Flight Strumento amongst others. For the money, I couldn't find a better integrated amp to drive the S5's. The same applies to the S5 mk2, the only difference being the Vitus should have slightly better power/control.

In summary, on that budget would I recommend the SIA-025 Mk2 to pair with the S3 Mk2 in a small or medium size room? Absolutely. Just a heads up though that Vitus plan to release a new Signature Series integrated around the end of the year (SIA-030) which will compliment the SIA-025 Mk2, not replace it. The SIA-030 will have more power (approx 30 watts Kl.A, 200 watts Kl.A/B) and be based on the latest Vitus circuit design (incl: the SM-011 mono's & SL-103). But it will be quite a bit more expensive of course. Hope that helps.
 
I already had my Pass XA-100.5's before the S3's arrived. Hearing them together at the 2014 Axpona show, I had found what I was looking for.
 
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