cost no object integrated amps

Vitus SIA 030 owner here...
Coming from 30 years of Naim ownership, vinyl sources.
Auditioned the Gryphon Diablo 300 at dealer with Wilsons-good but did not grab me...could have been the Wilsons. The common "its a bit dark" held true .
Brought a new Levinson integrated home- disappointed
Had an entry level Dartzeel at home- beautiful but not enough bite. Did the demo of the Boulder 866-nice but not enough power. Listened to the Aavik 300 before- sideways move from Naim.
Did the demo of the Vitus at dealer with YG speakers and a decent Clearaudio deck- wow.
I was not going to leave Naim unless something really opened my ears...the Vitus did. Coming from Naim 552/500 to a single box was a little scary but I trusted my ears and jumped.
Very happy that I did. Amp is about 4 months old now and continues to amaze with the depth and emotion that it conveys. Very different to Naim, but engaging and powerful in ways that the 552/500 just can't do...
Audition a SIA 030 before you make your decision. SIA 025 would not have convinced me I don't think...the 030 is a beast.

Cost no object: VAC Statement 450i iQ

Perhaps $40k bargain?:
Pilium Audio Leonidas Integrated
Bob, a dealer at Rhapsody Audio https://rhapsody.audio , believes that Pilium products punch way above their price point, competitive with the very best.  Although dealers can be bias, I read his many WBF posts and he comes across as very knowledgeable, sincere, and has the pulse of the highest high end audio equipment judging by the equipment he carries and the manufacturers he represents.  

varyat

Thank You for the brief review of Vitus Audio SIA 30. At that level of performance/price, I would expect it to better an Ayre AX-5 Twenty.

Happy Listening!

Absolare has a superb integrated for about $20k. It impressed me a lot at a show. It has a tubed input stage.

You can also try Aavik. It may be more in your style. I think the C-380 got a good review in Stereophile.

thank you

@bvdiman @audioman58 @georgehifi @palbrecht1 @kren006. gryphon seems a crowd favorite as well.heard it has darker backgrounds, great bass and is a dynamic and muscular amp.

Yes it will drive anything with the current it can put out 300w @ 8ohm and 950w @ 2ohm, and it has sub outputs if you need to add sub/s to your mains.

That so called "dark sound", is just like what pure class-A sounds like, it washes over you with detail and massively huge dynamics, and presence without calling attention to itself, or to the speaker drivers themselves, it’s like they don’t have to be in the room, IT"S NOT HIFI to coin a phrase.

Cheers George