Hegel H360 or H590 or Constellation Inspiration Integrated 1.0 for Magico A3

Thanks, soix and respected. As to SQ, I want a very clear mid-range, not "warm" or "relaxed" which may be euphemisms for less than tight and clear. However, not so "bright" or "analytical" which often leads quickly to listening fatigue. The A3s sounded about right to me and had a very good bottom end, much better than the Harbeth 40.1s that I heard immediately before the A3s (also with the T+A amp). I am hoping to find an amp that complements the A3s in my price range of under $13,500.

@denon1, I’ll run through your questions one by one..

"How reliable the Vitus RI-101?" - I guess the first thing to say is, Vitus Audio are a luxury brand like AP or Hublot, not a mass market brand. Their new factory in Denmark is SOTA They are using machinery which is VERY expensive. This article will give you some idea - https://www.monoandstereo.com/2016/12/new-state-of-art-machines-in-vitus.html
If you want to learn about the philosophy of the Designer, Hans Ole Vitus, there is an informative series of short videos here - http://www.bestofhighend.com/hans-ole-vitus-part-1/
And unlike some other high end manufacturers, they design and built the majority of their chassis parts (incl: boards) in-house. They are all about attention to detail, which you see from their well made and immaculately shipped boxes through to the signed QA sheet inside the box & well written manual on cd.

"Is it on the same level of luxman, accuphase, gryphon?" - I recently did an a-b shootout between Luxman, Accuphase & Pass .8 series separates. Build quality on the Japenese amps was excellent, and fyi in that shootout I preferred the sound of the Accuphase A-70/C-2850 combo. But the Vitus RI-101 and SIA-025mk2 are playing on a higher level imho. As for Gryphon, I would rather not comment on them in the forums. Will pm you.

"I don’t think we have service in US from Vitus, this is the only thing that stops me from considering new vitus integrated" - Vitus definitely have Distribution in the US. Bob from Rhapsody Audio in NYC is one of your main Dealers, and is also an authorized Service Centre for Vitus. From memory, there are atleast four or five Dealers in the US. Maybe drop Bob a line and ask?

"I currently have luxman 509x driving canton reference 3k speakers. I like the sound but feel that on a higher volume levels it should be more relaxed, and instead it just gets loud with some harshness that I don’t hear at lower levels. To me its a sign that I need more power to drive my speakers maintaining the same level of refinement that luxman provides" - It does sound like the Lux is starting to run out of puff. It has a damping factor of 370 which is not very high compared to even Accuphase. I recently reviewed the Vitus RI-101 fyi before changing my member name & saying sayanara, (or "proshchay" in Russian) to that forum - https://www.stereonet.co.nz/forums/topic/16208-my-impressions-of-the-vitus-ri-101-integrated/

Melboneguy - I appreciate you input even if the Vitus is way beyond my budget. I am interested in your thoughts about Gryphon, which the dealer also recommended. Maybe you can send me a pm as well?

iar OP2 posts08-24-2018 12:10amI have the time to wait to hear the Hegel 590. The dealer said the Magico A3s are backordered and will take 3 or more months to be available.

The A3’s which I recently reviewed are terrific. On a lesser budget than the Vitus RI-101, the Hegel H590 being based on the flagship separates should have plenty of power and pair well with those speakers. Another powerful integrated around the same price ballpark is the Audia Flight FLS-10 which is well made, on the warm side/musical, and has 3 x the total capacitance of the H590 which is important, as that gives you your speed, dynamics and control.

Well, there's a T+A PA3000HV available here now with full factory warranty for $10,995.