Vista Audio Spark II Review (Amplifer)

[krott5333]

There is a good chance that the reviewers really thought it sounded good. It has a romantic quality to it. You have this feeling that it's made in a small shop in Serbia, with pride. It has kind of a boutique and simple look to it, which is appealing. It has nice toggle switches on the front, that give it a quality, old-school feel. All this contributes to thinking the sound goes along with it.

 

[seadogbiscuit]

krott5333: You said that very well! Thank you! Did you mention cute?
I have an excellent streaming feed. I have clean conditioned power. I have good cables and all the gear is properly isolated. My listening space is well thought out and treated. My speakers are of the high sensitivity type and very well made.
I listen to electronic music usually under 65db.
In this setting, with this combination of factors, the Spark II sounds great! I prefer its sound to 5 other amps. Maybe I've let it sound as good as possible. I'm kinda proud of my work!

 

[Kegemusha]

There is a good chance that the reviewers really thought it sounded good. It has a romantic quality to it. You have this feeling that it's made in a small shop in Serbia, with pride. It has kind of a boutique and simple look to it, which is appealing. It has nice toggle switches on the front, that give it a quality, old-school feel. All this contributes to thinking the sound goes along with it.

I agree too, and Vista I was chosen amp of the year by Steve G among others, so something it must have and I dont think a little company from Serbia can pay these YT reviewers.

Of the amps I had at home, Peachtree Music B, Emotia Basx-a-100 the Vista was the better one and I have good speakers and cables.
It can not be the 1st amp that measure bad but sound feels good.
OTH The Ncore I have now sounds much better and I will stuck to it.

 

[Labjr]

For whatever reason, those reviewers have ZERO credibility! The product is a POS in a fancy box and they fell for it.

 

[seadogbiscuit]

I'll ask this: Who's put together the best TPA3255 amp for the money? $2-400 range. They all seem to have flaws. With all the minds out there on this site and diyaudio, you think someone would have perfected it. How about a board that could use a Hypex power supply and put it all in a Ghent case.

 

[Sonny1]

I try to be objective but have to admit I was rooting for this amp to perform better. Small company, Serbia, industrial looks, compact and simple looking design, etc. It was sad to see it perform so poorly. I have looked at this one for my office and I’m glad I didn’t purchase one.

Not going to pile on or say anything bad about the manufacturer. I hope they can find a way to improve it in the next iteration if they do one. Poorly performing audio products are too common (thanks to ASR for helping people realize this fact). At least this one doesn’t cost thousands of dollars.

 

[ousi]

I'll ask this: Who's put together the best TPA3255 amp for the money? $2-400 range. They all seem to have flaws. With all the minds out there on this site and diyaudio, you think someone would have perfected it. How about a board that could use a Hypex power supply and put it all in a Ghent case.

Interesting you mentioned the Ghent case. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...power-125asx2-class-d-amplifier-review.10442/ I bought a 125ASX2 module a couple years ago and thrown in the Ghent case and wire kit. Less than $300 in total and added the Schiit SYS it's still $400. If you want to go cheaper, parts-express sell the 50ASX2SE at $118 a pop.

the ICEPower amp with a volume control would run circle around the Vista. But then it doesn't have all these heart-warming subjective quality like made in Serbia by a small shop with love.

 

[Bernd]

I just love the decapitated Pink Panther! I hadn't seen one before because I'm relatively new to the site. I have to say, it stirred my interest and I read the review although I really do not need an amplifier. I really wonder, if the makers of this device actually measure the product sometime during its development - surely there must be some kind of quality control, mustn't it??

 

[seadogbiscuit]

I have contacted the owner and encouraged him to join ASR. He wasn't aware of the review. I wish him luck. I think he has good audio intentions.

 

[Rottmannash]

I agree too, and Vista I was chosen amp of the year by Steve G among others, so something it must have and I dont think a little company from Serbia can pay these YT reviewers.

Of the amps I had at home, Peachtree Music B, Emotia Basx-a-100 the Vista was the better one and I have good speakers and cables.
It can not be the 1st amp that measure bad but sound feels good.
OTH The Ncore I have now sounds much better and I will stuck to it.

Perhaps instead of getting paid for a good review they were simply given the sample as a gift.

 

[welsh]

Yikes !, I was seriously thinking about buying the Vista last year, glad I went with something else instead.
Thanks Amir for posting this.
Gee....l guess I'm glad there weren't measurements of Jimi's Marshall amp at the concert I went to in 1968.

None of Jimi’s amps lasted long enough for measurements...

 

[joentell]

Thank you @amirm for all of the work you do. I agree with others that your reviews make it clear which reviewers are giving bad advice.

It's not easy making doing reviews on YouTube, but even harder to do ones based on objective/measurable data in order to give the best advice possible. Consumers should take note of the repeat offenders and stay away from their advice.

 

[ta240]

Interesting you mentioned the Ghent case. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...power-125asx2-class-d-amplifier-review.10442/ I bought a 125ASX2 module a couple years ago and thrown in the Ghent case and wire kit. Less than $300 in total and added the Schiit SYS it's still $400. If you want to go cheaper, parts-express sell the 50ASX2SE at $118 a pop.

the ICEPower amp with a volume control would run circle around the Vista. But then it doesn't have all these heart-warming subjective quality like made in Serbia by a small shop with love.

Don't the icepower amps react poorly to having an analog volume control connected? Don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan, a 50ASX2SE just showed up here today and the ghent case is on its way. But I've seen a couple threads on them liking low input impedance and a volume control by itself messes that up.

 

[ta240]

..... This amp has too little power to drive most speakers ....

I know I'm banging my head against a really solid wall because I'm the only one here that listens at low volume levels; but here goes, how about 'too little power to drive most speakers to higher levels'.

Even Zero Fidelity says it is a niche product due to the low output level. Granted that gets confused with his comment saying it is his favorite integrated under $500. Which is where so many audio reviews go awry; raves in one area outweigh other caveats. But if you listen carefully he stresses it is for very efficient speakers or small desktop setups.

I would be willing to bet that the 'forgiving' nature he mentions is due to the background noise and the lively presentation is the 2nd harmonics. Someone send me one so I can listen to it and tell At least do that when/if my tinnitus fades because music sucks now.

 

[ta240]

Thank you @amirm for all of the work you do. I agree with others that your reviews make it clear which reviewers are giving bad advice.

It's not easy making doing reviews on YouTube, but even harder to do ones based on objective/measurable data in order to give the best advice possible. Consumers should take note of the repeat offenders and stay away from their advice.

I've said it before, Joe's leader board is a great way to avoid every product being 'the best ever'; which happens on a lot of reviews.

And I will give Zero Fidelity credit for actually stating what the amps and speakers aren't best at and how they compare to others in his reviews. Very few reviewers will mention that a different component is better in some uses than the one they are currently highlighting.

 

[MZKM]

I know I'm banging my head against a really solid wall because I'm the only one here that listens at low volume levels; but here goes, how about 'too little power to drive most speakers to higher levels'.

Average speaker is 86dB sensitive. At 4ohm, 30W peak will give you +12dB, so 98dB. But at 12ft away in a room that will be about -8dB, so 90dB.

For movies, Dolby/THX is 105dB peaks, so -15dB from reference.

For background music and/or high sensitivity speakers, sure.

But for $400 there are cleaner and more powerful options.

 

[ta240]

Average speaker is 86dB sensitive. At 4ohm, 30W peak will give you +12dB, so 98dB. But at 12ft away in a room that will be about -8dB, so 90dB.

For movies, Dolby/THX is 105dB peaks, so -15dB from reference.

For background music and/or high sensitivity speakers, sure.

But for $400 there are cleaner and more powerful options.

Right, but as was noted in at least one of the reviews; for up close use or with very efficient speakers it is fine power wise.
I would venture a guess that a massive amount of the population doesn't come close to hitting Dolby/THX levels at home, especially those that would buy a super compact amp for it (and hopefully those with walls that connect to neighbors).

I know the common theme here is that one must have enough power to be able to feel the music and 'experience' the movie. I'm just saying that isn't everyone and this amp in no way promises to be able to do that.
Are there other choices with at least 2 input selections and volume controls that can do that for this price and this size? Maybe. But does that matter at all to someone that has no desire to do that?

For that matter, why test any amp with under a certain power level if all of those are going to be dismissed as not being able to drive the speakers to the desired level? At that point you are clearly testing items that weren't designed for you. A bit like doing auto reviews of coupes and complaining that they just can't haul your family of 6 anywhere.

There seems to be a prevalent thinking anymore that if a product doesn't fit my use case then there is no reason for it to exist. And I just don't understand that. As long as it isn't promising things it can't do then I don't see the issue.

 

[Billy Budapest]

I just wanna know who thought this thing looks good enough to buy blind? I just cannot get over the awful font of the logo.

Ah well, maybe people enjoy the sound because they were looking for tube amp emulation, but without the tubes or without emulation software.

It actually looks better when it’s all lit up by the backlight. I did not like the volume knob, switch, logo, etc., but seeing it lit up on YouTube improved the aesthetics somewhat. Still sort of DIY though.

 

[MZKM]

Right, but as was noted in at least one of the reviews; for up close use or with very efficient speakers it is fine power wise.
I would venture a guess that a massive amount of the population doesn't come close to hitting Dolby/THX levels at home, especially those that would buy a super compact amp for it (and hopefully those with walls that connect to neighbors).

I know the common theme here is that one must have enough power to be able to feel the music and 'experience' the movie. I'm just saying that isn't everyone and this amp in no way promises to be able to do that.
Are there other choices with at least 2 input selections and volume controls that can do that for this price and this size? Maybe. But does that matter at all to someone that has no desire to do that?

For that matter, why test any amp with under a certain power level if all of those are going to be dismissed as not being able to drive the speakers to the desired level? At that point you are clearly testing items that weren't designed for you. A bit like doing auto reviews of coupes and complaining that they just can't haul your family of 6 anywhere.

There seems to be a prevalent thinking anymore that if a product doesn't fit my use case then there is no reason for it to exist. And I just don't understand that. As long as it isn't promising things it can't do then I don't see the issue.

You didn’t address my ending comment about why buy this over other gear.

The $80 TI chip DAC Amir reviewed has cleaner & more power, and 2 inputs and volume.

If the argument is a nicer case, I wont argue (well, for this specific product I would).

 

[Sound_freq]

Perhaps instead of getting paid for a good review they were simply given the sample as a gift.

It's fairly common practice or often give them the option to purchase at a discount instead of shipping back. Hardly enough to sway one's opinion of the sound.