Vivaldi and no pre amp in the system

Well after almost a full day with the sia030, all i can say really is its fantastic.
Totally different beast to its brother the sia025.
It does sound very different to what my naim 500 kit sounded like, but for me, it’s the right time, and the right move in sound.
The dynamics are fantastic, and very much improved on my old set up, and with going directly to the 500.
But its the much bigger sound, and the bass that’s just far superior, it’s crazy really the difference, but at the same time it doesn’t sound overwhelming.
It’s just very strong, if that makes sense, its probably what i would expect a full statement to sound maybe? But it’s very, very nice, and my 808’s are certainly loving the new power they are being fed.
Also after a long day, i am very pleased to say that the amp is just lukewarm, and its been inclass A all the time. Probably used more electricity than the rest off the street put together, but i bet they haven’t enjoyed themselves as much as i have.

Also tried a few different xlr’s cables and its straight away hear the difference time, its so resolving that cables can certainly be used as tone controls if you wish, but by farr my favourite out the ones i have hear are, tara labs, the one cable with the grounding box. This is very natural, and sounds utterly brilliant on this set up i have.

So the humbolt is going to have to be something very special to top this super integrated, which it just might be? But from reading the reviews on both, it looks like it’s, do you like the class A warmth or the normal.
But what i also love is the simple one box, just a few cables and off you go. Plus what a go it is, it’s amazing what an intergrated amp can do these days.

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Hi Duncan,

Did you compare the Naim to the Vitus on the same Artesania rack? The profound changes you experienced are often brought on by upgrading the support system.

I still suggest starting with power cords, preferably in combination with power conditioning. At this moment, you might be listening to the quality limitations of the grid. And experimenting with fuses for the Vivaldi set.

Hi no, all my naim was on the naim fraim racks, that was designed to get the best from the naim products, but no rack is going to give you the large difference i have now.

As far as mains go, i do have a separate consumer unit just for the 2 hifi radials that run to my room. This feeds a separate single plug that i use just for the amp, the other is star wired into 6 plug sockets. Also the plug sockets are hifi quality, as in no switch, and better quality materials used.
Then i use good quality shielded mains cables