This is a review about the Vista Spark. The first one, without the white/blue-ish front lighting. Tested with Fluance SX6 speakers, and Emotiva B1+'s.
First: Going from an AVR (or SMSL SA100) to a Vista Spark is a damn huge upgrade. I needed a small but good amplifier and I found this, used. Yes, this is a 20 watts per channel amplifier. If you’re not going to plug this into near-field speakers (or efficient speakers), pass. Still, it’s 20 watts of Class A power. From my experience, it’s basically the equivalent of 100 watts of Class D power… because Class A sounds basically 5 times fuller than Class D. I feel like you can view this as “20 watts of torque, not horsepower”.
From Class D to Class A:
I’ll just be harsh about Class D amps and say that they’re like “the mp3’s of amps”. That is especially true with budget audio. Let me explain: We needed mp3’s to save space. Compressing audio without destroying (much) of it. Still, removing… 90% of the audio data without doing irreversible damage to music is impossible. Yes, mp3’s can sound great. Most of what I listen to is still mp3’s. But mp3’s will always sound thinner (lacking resolution and presence) than the original, lossless version. And it’s the same thing about Class D. Class D was invented to save power. Removing 90% of the power needed to play music cannot be done without doing irreversible damage to music (again, especially in budget audio – I’m sure a ton of Class D amps sound better than the Vista Spark – but they’re also probably all 500$ or more).
The first thing you notice with the Vista Spark is the thickness of the mids. Or… fatness. Width. Depth. Presence. Resolution. Oomph. You’re not listening to a low-resolution representation of the singer. The amount of detail you can get, even at low volume, with the Vista Spark and near-field speakers is impressive. The volume isn’t even at 9 o’clock and… Fink is in front of me right now, basically. And (ironically) it’s not a FLAC file… it’s this Youtube video. Yes. Getting a Vista Spark buys you that kind of upgrade. The “I feel like I’m in the studio and the singer is in front of me” upgrade. The “uncanny valley” upgrade. An upgrade that is (obviously) even more noticeable when you listen to lossless audio files. Lossless audio data played through your “lossless power Class A amp” is the best way I’ve found to “relatively inexpensively” attain “life-like-ness” in an audio system.
I also have a SMSL SA100: A good, tiny little powerful Class D amp I use for a “party room”. Compared to this, it’s “flat-sounding” and lacking detail. My ~100$ Fluance SX6 speakers sounded… 10 times better powered by the Vista Spark than powered by the SA100 – Hell, my Fluance SX6’s powered by the Vista Spark sounded 10 times better than my ~300$ Emotiva B1+'s powered by the SMSL SA100.
So, why I do not like the Vista Spark?
Well, the downside about the Vista Spark is its main attraction: Its rich, full mids. If you already have bass-oriented or mid-bass-oriented speakers (like Emotiva B1+'s with… something going on at ~200hz), female voices will lose their clarity, their softness, and sound too much like… well, male voices. This amp appears to be a VERY mid-oriented amp. Yes, it still “measures flat”. There’s just way more mids, or even low-mids “presence” than anything else (the B1+'s also measure flat-ish, but there’s a lot of depth/presence at ~200hz). So, be careful about the pairings, things can get ugly. i.e.: If you want Lady Gaga to sound like Barry White, pair this Vista Spark with Elac B5’s.
I feel like this amp can do wonders with way-too-analytical and/or way-too-V-shaped speakers. The Vista Spark will just destroy this, huh, “hollow-ness” and totally change your speakers character to complete their sound with a natural, life-like mid-range. I just feel like everything went into the mid-range and everything else is “laid-back”. If you always feel like there’s not enough mids, this one’s for you. The Vista Spark 1 is just the “budget holy grail of mid-range”.
