Интегральные усилители — Vincent SV-500

The Vincent SV-500 belongs to the powerLine series, which the German brand presents as its entry into hybrid designs. It was developed from the earlier SV-227 and keeps that model's styling with somewhat lower output. A valve preamplifier section feeds a transistor power stage, and a built-in converter handles digital sources. Buyers can choose between a black and a silver finish.

Key specs that matter

Rated output is 2 x 50 W RMS into 8 ohm and 2 x 80 W RMS into 4 ohm. Harmonic distortion is under 0.1 percent at 1 kHz and 1 W, and the S/N figure exceeds 90 dB. Sensitivity for the line inputs is 420 mV at an impedance of 47 kOhm. The casing is 430 mm wide, 118 mm high and 375 mm deep, with a weight of 10 kg.

Engineering and use context

Three tubes work in the preamplifier circuit - two 6N1 and a single 12AX7 - and the owner can replace them, with their service life estimated at around 10 years. Power comes from a 250 VA toroidal transformer. Digital decoding relies on a Burr-Brown PCM5100 converter chip capable of 32-bit/384 kHz processing, and the listed file formats include WAV, FLAC, APE, LPCM, MP3, AAC, AC3 and WMA. Analogue connectivity consists of four RCA line inputs, joined by one optical and one coaxial digital socket. The rear panel also carries a stereo RCA pre out, a stereo RCA recording output for tape machines, two 3.5 mm power control jacks carrying a 12 V trigger and terminals for two pairs of loudspeakers, chosen with a front switch. Bass and treble controls are provided and can be defeated to take them out of the signal path. A Loudness function is also fitted. The front 6.3 mm headphone jack accepts headphones between 32 and 600 ohm and switches the speakers off while a plug is inserted, and a mute button silences the speakers, recording output and pre out together. The aluminium-cased SRC-1 remote control is included. A selector behind a cover changes the mains voltage between 230 V and 110 V.

Pairing

Through the pre out, the SV-500 can drive a powered sub, or one stereo power amp or a pair of monoblocks that run a further pair of speakers, for example in another room. Since no phono input is fitted, a turntable requires an outboard stage, for which Vincent offers the PHO-200 and PHO-300 in the same powerLine family. Sources with digital outputs, such as a DVD player, connect by optical fibre or coaxial cable to the built-in DAC.

Alternatives

For more power with switchable Class A operation, Vincent offers the SV-700 integrated amplifier.