High End 2024: Vitus Audio at 20 with Two New Products

SoundStage! started publishing in 1995, which makes us fairly younger in comparison with lots of the manufacturers we cowl. For instance, PSB and NAD just lately celebrated their fiftieth anniversaries. KEF was based in 1961, so it’s over a decade older than these two manufacturers. Klipsch was based in 1946, and Luxman was based in 1925!

But there are a lot of manufacturers youthful than SoundStage! is, and one among them is Vitus Audio. The firm was based in 2004 by Hans-Ole Vitus. But his preliminary design work had began in 1995—the identical 12 months SoundStage! was based. This means I’ve been in a position to watch this model develop from the beginning. Hans-Ole Vitus began coming to the High End present within the mid-2000s. Back then, he was a younger engineer, recent out of a brief profession at Texas Instruments, trying to make his mark with massive, well-built amplifiers that includes pure-class-A operation.

Alexander Vitus Mogensen, Hans-Ole Vitus, and Lukas Birk Eriksen

We took discover of Vitus Audio immediately, as a result of the merchandise have been spectacular and due to Hans-Ole’s uncommon method to rising his firm. Rather than dashing out new merchandise, which too many firms do, he appeared to spend extra time ensuring his merchandise met his excessive requirements for high quality and efficiency. As a consequence, Vitus Audio wouldn’t all the time arrive at High End with one thing new. This restricted how we may cowl the model—at exhibits, we focus virtually completely on new merchandise. But we all the time revered Vitus’s technique.

Even although the corporate didn’t all the time have one thing new to point out, I discovered that there was typically one thing new occurring at Vitus Audio’s manufacturing unit in Herning, Denmark. For a few years, the corporate has been investing closely in manufacturing gear to allow them to deliver as many processes as potential in-house, largely to enhance high quality management. This isn’t outwardly seen to the buyer, however definitely has an impact on the corporate’s merchandise.

I visited Vitus Audio for the primary time final November. At the time, the corporate had a dozen or so staff. Vitus isn’t an enormous firm, and its headcount hasn’t modified a lot since then. Still, I used to be shocked by the scale of the manufacturing unit—it was about twice as massive as I’d anticipated. They want that house to accommodate all of the machines they’ve for circuit-board fabrication. Metal machining and ending is outsourced to skilled, succesful native companies that know Vitus Audio’s necessities precisely. But Vitus is doing its personal laser engraving. I wouldn’t be shocked to see extra of the metal-parts manufacturing introduced in-house, as a result of the corporate likes to have as a lot management over as potential over their processes. Whereas many audio manufacturers are extra like assemblers than producers, Vitus Audio is an instance of an actual producer needs to be.

A profound change occurred two years in the past, when Hans-Ole stepped down as CEO and offered the corporate to his son, Alexander Vitus Mogensen, and Lukas Birk Eriksen, who was already an worker. Alexander and Lukas run Vitus Audio as a part of AVA Group, which additionally contains the Alluxity model, which Alexander began a couple of decade in the past. Britta Mogensen, Hans-Ole’s spouse, helps to handle AVA Group as nicely. But Hans-Ole isn’t out of the image—he arrange store subsequent to the principle manufacturing unit to do what he does greatest and likes to do most: analysis and design.

These modifications have paid off for Vitus Audio, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this 12 months. The firm introduced two new merchandise at High End 2024: a brand new inside phono module for the SIA-030 built-in amplifier and a brand new mono amplifier, the SM-025, which is able to substitute the SM-011 in Vitus Audio’s Signature sequence.

According to the media launch saying the 2 merchandise, Vitus Audio “needed to make it as full fledged phono stage as potential with the very restricted house. The result’s a phono stage which has the standard options as a number of impedance and achieve picks, selection between MC and MM cartridges and 2x RCA inputs.” Since there’s no casework for the phono stage, it’s just about a slam-dunk that it’s manufactured solely in Vitus Audio’s facility.

I attempted to get Alexander and Lukas to offer fundamental specs for the SM-025 amplifier, however they wouldn’t oblige. Like the phono stage, the monoblock amp is within the late production-prototype stage, and they might not say something extra till the ultimate design has been nailed down. The solely factor I do know for sure is that it’s a class-A design—like all Vitus Audio amplifiers. They didn’t have pricing for the amp or the phono stage but.

But Alexander and Lukas fortunately popped the highest off the prototype SM-025 to point out me its guts. While the SM-025 is loosely primarily based on a earlier mannequin, it’s virtually solely a ground-up design, courtesy of Hans-Ole, and can set up Vitus Audio’s design route for the following 20 years.

Towards the tip of my go to, Alexander and Lukas informed me that they’re increasing the ability once more to accommodate much more equipment, so we’re already planning our subsequent go to to Herning. When that occurs, we’re more likely to see these two parts in manufacturing. Then we’ll have the ability to let you know extra about them, and likewise present you precisely how they’re being made.

Doug Schneider
Founder, SoundStage!