The RI-100 proved an excellent opportunity to have a close look at a product that comes from a Danish manufacturer for whom we have heard only positive comments. Quite interesting in they aesthetic approach (the Scandinavian minimalism may not have been abandoned, but the colors are -to say the least- often highly provocative), and with designs that seems to easily win some impressive reports, Vitus, founded in 1995, and with a name borrowed directly from its mastermind, Hans-Ole Vitus is, obviously, an interesting case.

The RI-100 integrated amplifier is the smallest amp in Vitus' Reference series with the Signature, Masterpiece and Design Studio series defining a path towards the state of the art, where the cost is not a constraint according to Hans-Ole. It is one of the three integrated amplifiers the company offers (the two other models belong to the Signature series) and probably its most significant difference from them is its output stage being biased for AB-class operation. In contrast, the SIA-025 is a 25W class A and 100W class AB amp and SS-101 has a power output of 50W in class A and 100W in class AB operation, the two modes being selectable by the user.
Vitus' main concept in RI-100's design is quite clear: This is an amplifier capable of driving practically every reasonable loudspeaker load in home-use conditions while at the same time it includes good connectivity, features a clear upgrade path by adding modules such as a phono preamplifier, a D/A converter and a headphone amplifier and, also, several aspects of its operation can be customized through a menu. Let's look at the details…

Dimitris Stamatakos

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Original Publilcation: 2015/09/01	Last Follow Up: 2015/09/01

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