Hi Bodhi! Your posts have been very informative to me since I was based in Australia and a frequent visitor of SNA. In fact, I got my original SIA 025 to pair with my marten miles 5 partly due to reading some of your posts.
I did think about the Vitus SIA030, but another thing I am concerned about is the length of my interconnects, which are 1m long. I cannot fit into the SIA30 into my racks, so it will have to be away from the racks, and 1m would not be enough. The interconnects cost too much for me to replace with a longer length unfortunately.
Still that would definitely be an option I will consider. If I go into Integrateds, the Audionet Humboldt is another amp that I am thinking of...
Thanks for your kind words Jay. The SIA 025 is a lovely amp, and would be a perfect match with the Miles 5, but I agree would be a bit lean power-wise driving the Tenors which as Pweg pointed out need a lot of power.
Yes fitting a large integrated like the SIA-030 into a system with multiple components could be a challenge if you want to stick with your 1.0mtr xlr's. My solution will be to start from scratch using a triple-width 3-shelf Timberation rack which already has good shelf height and is customizeable, and place the 030 on the bottom, centre shelf of the rack. That way I should be able to get away with 1.0mtr ic's based on my planned system configuration. Though I can understand if you don't want to upend your system by changing racks.
Re: Audionet. I asked my Dealer about them & he said It's more mid end than high end gear (similar to Accustic Arts), and not on the same level as Vitus Signature series. Another thing to consider is resale value. Audionet could be difficult to sell.
Re: Pweg's suggestion of the Audia Flight Strumento amps. Firstly there isn't an audiophile in my neck I respect more than this guy. He is right, the AF amps have great synergy with Marten. The No.4 stereo amp has gobs of power, sounds warm, harmonically rich, a little bit tube-like, has good bass and is very good value. The No.8 mono's are even more dynamic sounding, have a lower noise floor and a greater sense of 'ease'. Another thing to consider is, the input impedance of the Strumento stereo/mono amps is somewhat low at 7.5k?, therefore they are best paired with the matching No.1 preamp, which reportedly is not as good as the power amp or mono's.
If you're going for separates, the AF amps are damn good. Though you might find the Vitus SL-102/SS-103 combo more natural/organic sounding and tube-like, still on the warm, musical side, though a bit more neutral than the AF combo. Given the SL-102 is a better preamp than the AF No.1 imho, if you can swing a killer deal on the SS-103 amp that would be my recommendation. The SS-103 despite it's modest quoted specs has a ton of current, and will take your power-hungry Coltranes by the scruff. Whatever you decide, I wouldn't recommend mixing your Vitus pre with the AF stereo or mono amps. Rule of thumb: Vitus sounds best with Vitus.
