RR...what made you choose that exact model? it´s neither the cheapest, nor the top of the line....
1) Unlike many in this hobby who believe that if it's more expensive it must sound better this is something I do not believe. This is something I admonish others for thinking fallaciously is true.
2) Relatedly, just because there is a higher model doesn't mean that, absent a direct comparison between the higher model and the lower model, I necessarily will prefer the sound of the higher model.
3) I auditioned the Incito S in my own system for several months thanks to Robert Neill of Worldwide Wholesales the distributor. I was able to compare the Incito S to other preamps
in situ.
4) For me the Incito S is the best sounding preamp I've ever heard in my system.
5) By many accounts the Imperia preserves everything people like about the Incito S but improves resolution and transparency. Maybe or maybe not it gives up a very small amount of the in Incito S' tonal density. That was my totally unsubstantiated suspicion but who knows.
6) The Incito S has the highest gain structure of any of the AC preamps I believe. The unit I demoed was the low gain version with maximum gain of only 8 or 9dB. This is not enough for my system so Stavros agreed with me that the higher gain structure of the Incito S switchable between I think 14 and 19 dB (or 14 and 21dB?) would only sound better in my system than the demo unit. So my demo unit was totally inadequate gain but it was still the best sounding preamp I've heard in my system. This one should only sound materially better.
7) Everyone who has heard both units prefers the Impera. but just assuming I will prefer the higher unit is not me and it is not my philosophy. Knowing how much I like the Incito S, I'm just not somebody who's going to assume I would prefer the more expensive or higher model just because it's the more expensive or higher model.
8) I would've loved to have done a direct comparison in my own system between Incito S and Imperia, but I could not arrange that without bothering Robert Do, which I felt would be unfair and unreasonable considering I was working directly Robert and Stavros.
9) The Incito S I believe has the lowest output impedance of any of the AC preamps. A very low output impedance is helpful for me because I am driving such long interconnects and because I am sometimes loading the preamp with three different amplifiers in a tri-amp configuration. So the super low impedance of 50 ohms should help with this.
10) Unlike many people I am the guy who wants to last Ferrari off the production line, not the first one to have early adoption bragging rights and to show off in the neighborhood. It gives me comfort that Stavros has been making the Incito S continuously for something like six or seven years. Because of this production volume it should be very reliable.