Hi Jafant, I have heard the previous model Vitus RCD-100 & SCD-010, Soulution 540 and the Audia Flight CD One M. Of those, the Vitus RCD-100 seemed most happy to be placed with other amps due to its neutrality, smooth sound and overall balance. That said, most of this group sound better paired with amps from their own family of amps for best synergy.
Vitus aims to make his players sound like real music, and to be able to sit down to a long listening session without fatigue. The sound is surprisingly non-digital, but rather gives a nod to good vinyl in some areas such as tonality, body & dynamics. I heard the Vitus SIA-025, SCD-010 & Magico Q1's with Siltech Royal Sig Series cables & was quite shocked. The sound was amazingly pure, liquid (tube-like) and musical. I'd never before heard any ss digital-based system present such a tube-like, analogue sound. The latest SCD-025 model is quite a bit better across the board than the previous SCD-010 and uses an all-modular architecture like the SL-102 preamp. Vitus is also due to release a new DSD USB board for the 025 in October.
The Soulution 540 sounds very smooth, stable, resolving & has a very low noise floor. I heard the 540 paired with a Soulution 710 driving Magico S5's & was impressed by the control, smooth sound & undeniable synergy. But with the previous series atleast (the latest series are supposed to be better) I couldn't quite get away from the perception the music wasn't completely natural. Maybe it is all those boards, parts and smps inside the chassis?
The Audia Flight CD-One M is a well built player & sounds quite smooth, accurate (resolving), clean and neutral in tonal balance. Although it is made in Italy, it is reminiscent of Canadian brands like Classe. If I had one minor criticism it would be this player leans toward the accuracy camp which makes is sound a tad analytical. My previous JVC XL-Z1050 for example sounded a bit smoother/more relaxed. I recall from a review I have tucked away that was through "sins of omission" (ie: gently rolling off the frequency extremes to achieve a smoother sound). And the JVC was very enjoyable to listen to.
Of that group (bearing in mind I have not heard the new Soulution 541) the Vitus SCD-025 is the one I could most easily live with. The previous model SCD-010 sounded tube-like, but much purer, more analogue-sounding and more sophisticated than my previous modded/re-tubed Ayon CD-5s. The current 025 is simply much better across the board. Thanks to it's 4 efficient UI-core psu's it has terrific dynamics, slam & PRAT. This player is fast and agile, but not in an "in your face" way. It sounds very natural and transparent thanks in part to its wide bandwidth & excellent dac, but most important of all music is presented with lifelike imagery, body and 'life'. It is about communicating the soul and intent of the music.
