“I bought this unit mostly for its built-in DAC to use with my CD player. Unfortunately, the optical connector was dead on arrival, so I returned the unit.”
“I had looked at the SV-237 for years but could never justify spending the money on something more powerful than I needed. So when the need arose for a new amplifier I purchased the SV-500 - one of the best audio decisions I have ever made. The warmth of the tube preamp takes the hard edge off of digital recordings. The bass is full and smooth. My JBL 4311's have never sounded better!”
“The first thing I noticed is that this amp has a different feel than the Marantz and Yamaha amps that I'm used to. If's a little quirky, the tubes need a minute to warm up, each of the buttons has a different feel (because of course they're doing very different things). I was wondering at first if I was going to like it but now that I've been using it for a while I love the wonderful sound and the personality of this integrated amp. I've mostly been using it with a Marantz 6005 CD player which I am now running through the Vincent's DAC. Turntable is a Rega P3 with a Ortofon 2M Bronze and the Parasound Zphono USB.The speakers are a pair of Elac DBR62 Reference that were slightly used, and I made my first foray into premium cables with the AQ Type 8s. I am extremely happy with how alive this system sounds with decent recordings. I haven't felt like this about some new equipment for 30 years. I bought the new setup as a retirement gift to myself and I'm feeling that, for my listening room needs, I should never have to upgrade again. This is a wonderful sounding amp with more than enough power for the Elacs, and a modest charm that's very satisfying.”
“Passion and Excitement is what I would say are the main attributes of the Vincent SV-500, and I love it, so way to go Vincent you've got one hell of an int/amp for 1 grand. To be honest I was expecting it to sound sort of warm, with the tubes, but I was wrong. This thing shoots out musical notes like out of a cannon, and man it's very exciting. Sometimes after listening to a song on the Vincent I feel like standing up and applauding, it's cool as hell. It might be a little over the top for some, but I totally love it.”
“This amp (and my other equipment, klipsch forte iii and chord Qutest dac) have shown me the magic of music in a new way. Solidly built with fit and finish, great remote, good power. Can't go wrong for $1000 new.”
“The SV 500 presents a HUGE soundstage - very wide, and I like that a lot. It also has plenty of power. However, when compared to my older and much more expensive gear, it lacks sparkle, depth, resolution, and well-delineated bass. Also, when compared to a used Hegel Rost for just a bit more, the SV lacks that magic 3d sparkle and ultimate resolution/bass detail.”
