Further listening to the VIDA tonight has made me realise that it really is quite different from any other phono stage I've heard. What sets it apart is what it doesn't add to the sound: there is no euphony and no vinyl colouration. None at all. It just reproduces whatever character is sewn into the recording. Yet it isn't stark or unforgiving; quite the opposite, in fact. It's wide dynamic range suppresses noise very well and allows it to mirror the dynamics of the recording.

I just played Cat Stevens' Tea for the Tillerman and it was like listening to a different mix, despite my knowing it intimately. In fact, it doesn't sound like vinyl at all. And why should it? I don't want my vinyl to sound like vinyl, I want it to sound like the master tape. As far as I can tell, it does that without adding anything to the original character. The sum effect is that different albums sound very different from each other, and something new is revealed in every one.