What speakers work well with an SIA-025?

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duckworp

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I have the Vitus SIA-025 integrated amp and am having trouble finding a pair of good speakers to work with them. My room is around 16’ x 13’ with speakers firing across the room. The speakers have to be near the rear wall. Unfortunately I have a bass boom problem in the mid-bass frequencies and have found many ported speakers present a problem. The low 25W-100Woutput of the Vitus seems to prevent some speakers working to their potential too.

I am interested to hear what others have found work well.

Currently I have a pair of B&W 804D which are ok in the bass department, but I know I can get so much more out of the Vitus. Some of the speakers I have demoed at home are listed below and some sound so much better than the B&Ws - apart from the bass issues. So far I have demoed in my room:

Wilson - Sabrina (certain bass frequencies presented a problem in my room on many recordings. Speaker sounded great in other respects)

Sonar Faber - Guarneri (sounded a little thin and they also boomed despite being a small 2way speaker)

Avalon Transcendent and Avalon Idea (both sounded wonderful but bass was a problem with both)

Wilson Benesch Endeavour- no bass issues and sound great at volume. But the low power of the SIA does not seem to drive enough current to get them really working. At low volumes they sound dead.

Proac K-6. These sounded so smooth and wonderful with their ribbon tweeter. But bass was a big problem.

I am due to try a Magico S3 ii in April at home but I see they require 50W, so I’m not sure the Vitus will drive them sufficiently.

And I am due to listen to a Tidal Piano at my dealers home soon too.


Unfortunately room treatment is not possible as the room is also the family lounge.

Any other SIA 025 owners out there with rooms on the small side who have found speakers which really gets the best out of the amp?


My source is a Vitus SCD-025. I am in the UK.


Thanks for reading.
 
Wilson Duette Series 2. They are designed to operate near walls. They are fairly sensitive: 91 dB 1w 1m. Check out their owners manual online. It is a wealth of info on room placement.
Tom
 
Perhaps finding the speakers for the amp isn’t the best approach. Maybe find the speakers you love first and then an amp to match.


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" Perhaps finding the speakers for the amp isn’t the best approach. Maybe find the speakers you love first and then an amp to match. "

Mike i was actually thinking the same.

Flemming
 
There is a member from Australia running SIA-025 with the Magico S5 mk 2. I had both the SIA-025 and the bigger SM-011 monos when I had my S5 mk2 and can confirm this is a superb combination.

SIA-025 is much more powerful than the sheer number suggests - I see no reason why it should't work with the smaller S3 mk 2, unless you have an unusually large room or are a headbanger.

BTW - I also had bass problems with the Sabrinas in my room - they were booming like crazy. I ended up closing bass-reflex ports. I had no such issues with the S5 mk 2.
 
I can recomend the Gauder Akustik RC7 Mk2 Diamond Biwiring, especially when I consider your bass Problem. Thats what I am using with my SIA-025Mk2/SCD-025Mk2.
 
Thanks for all your suggestions. After home demoing Magico, Wilson, Avalon, audio Physic, Wilson Benesch, Sonus Faber and ProAc, I ended up buying some fabulous Boenicke W13 speakers. They sound absolutely amazing on the end of the SIA-025.
 
Hi guys, i'll be demoing an SIA-025 Mk2 with my Thiel CS 3.7s very soon
Hope this combo will sing:P
 
I am interested to read your comments on that pairing, I am happy with my Moon 700i v2 but would love to hear a Vitus SIA-025 (or 030) driving my YG Acoustics Hailey's
 
Thieliste said:
Hi guys, i'll be demoing an SIA-025 Mk2 with my Thiel CS 3.7s very soon
Hope this combo will sing:P
Click to expand...

Not to be a negative nancy, but Thiels have tough impedance curves with drops into 2 ohm territory - not a great match here with a Class A amp. The SIA 25 will also run Class A/B but pretty much defeats the point.

fwiw, on my 96db Fynes in a medium room, I feel 50 SS watts is really perfect. I've had 18 watt FirstWatts, etc run out of gas. I also had 20 watt LTA tube amp that monoblocked to 40 watts sounded more refined/at ease.
 
FDPDK said:
" Perhaps finding the speakers for the amp isn’t the best approach. Maybe find the speakers you love first and then an amp to match. "

Mike i was actually thinking the same.

Flemming
Click to expand...
Me too. Choose speakers that suit the room - perhaps not B&Ws. First the TYPE of speaker, then go from there. Type being, conventional box (ported or not), electrostatic, horn, etc.

Room treatment was stated as a no-go, but there must always be room treatment even though this may not be unsightly acoustic treatment. Carpets will treat your room, as will curtains and furniture. You need to look at these features as they will have a massive effect on the sound you hear. My particularly difficult room sounded dire when I first moved in, but carpeting 30% of the floor, hanging (always open) curtains and more soft furnishing has dramatically improved matters. Horns suit my room, electrostatics certainly don't. Box speakers not ideal either.

So, as others have suggested, don't buy speakers to match an existing amp, choose speakers to suit your room and then if necessary change your amp to best suit the (doubtless much more costly and room critical) speakers. I bought or borrowed a dozen amps before deciding which best matched my particular speakers in my particular room.
 
Sorry, just seen dates of posting here and realise that I've totally missed the boat with my suggestions! Well done if you've found speakers that match your room and also your existing amp.
 
Don't be fooled by the modest 25w of the SIA-025, it has a lot of current exactly what Thiel speakers need.
My room is medium size and i don't listen very loud.
 
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