Simaudio has introduced a streaming network streamer/integrated amplifier, the Moon 371, the first product in a new, more affordable series called Compass. Why Compass? The name evokes the name of the higher-end North series, introduced in 2023. "Compass guides you North," a Simaudio rep said at a press event in Boucherville, across the river from Montreal.
The 371, which carries a price tag of $6500, gives you everything you need to make music except a streaming subscription, speakers, and speaker cables. During a presentation at that Boucherville press event, Simaudio execs described the philosophy of the new Compass series and of Simaudio broadly. The Compass series is intended to broaden the brand's appeal. "We don't want to stay just another audiophile brand," one speaker told the assembled audio journalists. Simaudio aims to do this by making products that are "unique, modern, beautiful." The 371 is at the heart of the Compass collection; it aims to become "the focus of your musical life."
The Boucherville facility encompasses Simaudio's whole operation, from visioning and engineering through manufacturing and quality control. They even design and build their own circuit boards onsite, which is rare. Of the company's 52 employees, 49 are based at the Boucherville facility. The degree of control this organization offers over the whole process allows Simaudio to offer a 10-year warranty. Another principle that caught my eye—or rather, my ear: Simaudio prefers to employ "radically different technologies wherever possible."
Several features set the Compass 371 apart. The amplifier's output stage operates in class-AB, employing a technology Simaudio calls MDCA, short for Moon Distortion-Cancelling Amplifier. Instead of using conventional feedback or feed-forward circuits, MDCA duplicates the signal at the input stage and routes the duplicated signal to a proprietary circuit, which determines the correction required. This correction signal is then injected back into the audio path, near the output stage, where it reduces distortion in a significantly more effective way than in any previous MOON amplifier. All this is done entirely in the analog realm.
The amplifier in the 371 is rated at 100Wpc into 8 ohms, 200Wpc into 4 ohms. During a break, I asked whether it would be reasonable to use it with a very demanding 2 ohm load. Several members of the press present had speculated that it would be unreasonable to expect this small, relatively affordable network streamer/integrated amplifier to handle very difficult loads. But Domique Poupart, Simaudio's product director, insisted that the 371 could handle any reasonable load. Thanks in large part to its robust power supply, it should be a match for just about any speaker.
What's special about the power supply? Simaudio calls it "Moon Hybrid Power." It combines elements of a switch-mode power supply with elements of a linear power supply. One interesting aspect of the supply is "smooth switching": in place of the usual fast on-off cycles of a typical switching power supply, which create a large amount of high-frequency noise, employs a simple passive LLC (inductor-inductor-capacitor) to achieve "smooth, soft switching." The power supply also employs "APFC" active power-factor correction to ensure that on the AC side, current and voltage are precisely in-phase. In addition to optimizing power transfer, this configuration is said to result in far less noise feeding back onto the AC line. These two technologies—APFC and smooth switching—are said to reduce the noise the power supply produces substantially while supporting robust performance.
Among the 371's inputs are two Ethernet jacks, which means you don't need a network switch: Use one jack to connect to the Ethernet, the other to connect to your NAS. There's also HDMI-ARC, which makes it easy to connect it to your television. There also are two S/PDIF inputs on RCA and one TosLink, plus USB-C. The onboard DAC can convert PCM files up to 32/384 and DSD to DSD256. Music is managed with the Simaudio MiND 2 streaming platform. MiND 2 supports all the usual suspects Qobuz (including Connect), Tidal (ditto), Spotify (including Connect), Deezer, and AirPlay, among others. The 371 arrives Roon Ready.
Simaudio didn't forget that some connections are analog. The 371 has one pair of balanced inputs on XLR, one single-ended pair on RCA, and a second RCA pair for phono. The 371's phono stage is said to support both MM and MC cartridges. Loading is fixed and not configurable.
Outputs? There's a single pair of high-quality loudspeaker binding posts, a 6.3mm headphone output on the front, and a preamp-out on RCA on the rear. On the front of the box is a vivid color screen that displays operating parameters and album art—plus a volume knob and a few discrete, elegantly arrayed controls. What else? The heatsink design is novel: Instead of fins, the 371 has vents on the sides, top, and bottom, that passively channel air across the warm surfaces, ensuring efficient heat dissipation. The volume-control knob is an optical encoder; Simaudio experimented with lubricants of different viscosity to achieve the desired feel. The 371 comes with a simple high-quality remote control, with three presets that allow you to quickly and easily access, eg, your favorite internet radio station.
Specifications are impressive: 5Hz–100kHz +0/–5dB; Simaudio selected this bandwidth as optimal: It's wide enough to prevent undesirable phase shifts and narrow enough to avoid unnecessary noise. THD+N is rated at 0.009% at 1W and 0.003% at 100W—in percentage terms, lower at higher power. S/N ratio is 108dB, and crosstalk is rated at –108dB. All that in a package that takes up a modest amount of space and weighs just 20lb—including the box and everything inside it. That Montreal event included listening of course, and the 371 acquitted itself very well. Powered by the 371, a pair of Dynaudio Contour Legacy speakers filled a large well-treated room with vivid, immediate sound, with no hint of strain. "Instruments are palpable with good body," I wrote in my listening notes. "Full. Rich. Good timbre and texture. Good sense of space." Though small, the 371 is robust. An auspicious debut. Simaudio expects to begin shipping the Moon 371 later this month.
The Boucherville facility encompasses Simaudio's whole operation, from visioning and engineering through manufacturing and quality control. They even design and build their own circuit boards onsite, which is rare. Of the company's 52 employees, 49 are based at the Boucherville facility. The degree of control this organization offers over the whole process allows Simaudio to offer a 10-year warranty. Another principle that caught my eye—or rather, my ear: Simaudio prefers to employ "radically different technologies wherever possible."
Several features set the Compass 371 apart. The amplifier's output stage operates in class-AB, employing a technology Simaudio calls MDCA, short for Moon Distortion-Cancelling Amplifier. Instead of using conventional feedback or feed-forward circuits, MDCA duplicates the signal at the input stage and routes the duplicated signal to a proprietary circuit, which determines the correction required. This correction signal is then injected back into the audio path, near the output stage, where it reduces distortion in a significantly more effective way than in any previous MOON amplifier. All this is done entirely in the analog realm.
What's special about the power supply? Simaudio calls it "Moon Hybrid Power." It combines elements of a switch-mode power supply with elements of a linear power supply. One interesting aspect of the supply is "smooth switching": in place of the usual fast on-off cycles of a typical switching power supply, which create a large amount of high-frequency noise, employs a simple passive LLC (inductor-inductor-capacitor) to achieve "smooth, soft switching." The power supply also employs "APFC" active power-factor correction to ensure that on the AC side, current and voltage are precisely in-phase. In addition to optimizing power transfer, this configuration is said to result in far less noise feeding back onto the AC line. These two technologies—APFC and smooth switching—are said to reduce the noise the power supply produces substantially while supporting robust performance.
Among the 371's inputs are two Ethernet jacks, which means you don't need a network switch: Use one jack to connect to the Ethernet, the other to connect to your NAS. There's also HDMI-ARC, which makes it easy to connect it to your television. There also are two S/PDIF inputs on RCA and one TosLink, plus USB-C. The onboard DAC can convert PCM files up to 32/384 and DSD to DSD256. Music is managed with the Simaudio MiND 2 streaming platform. MiND 2 supports all the usual suspects Qobuz (including Connect), Tidal (ditto), Spotify (including Connect), Deezer, and AirPlay, among others. The 371 arrives Roon Ready.
Outputs? There's a single pair of high-quality loudspeaker binding posts, a 6.3mm headphone output on the front, and a preamp-out on RCA on the rear. On the front of the box is a vivid color screen that displays operating parameters and album art—plus a volume knob and a few discrete, elegantly arrayed controls. What else? The heatsink design is novel: Instead of fins, the 371 has vents on the sides, top, and bottom, that passively channel air across the warm surfaces, ensuring efficient heat dissipation. The volume-control knob is an optical encoder; Simaudio experimented with lubricants of different viscosity to achieve the desired feel. The 371 comes with a simple high-quality remote control, with three presets that allow you to quickly and easily access, eg, your favorite internet radio station.
Specifications are impressive: 5Hz–100kHz +0/–5dB; Simaudio selected this bandwidth as optimal: It's wide enough to prevent undesirable phase shifts and narrow enough to avoid unnecessary noise. THD+N is rated at 0.009% at 1W and 0.003% at 100W—in percentage terms, lower at higher power. S/N ratio is 108dB, and crosstalk is rated at –108dB. All that in a package that takes up a modest amount of space and weighs just 20lb—including the box and everything inside it. That Montreal event included listening of course, and the 371 acquitted itself very well. Powered by the 371, a pair of Dynaudio Contour Legacy speakers filled a large well-treated room with vivid, immediate sound, with no hint of strain. "Instruments are palpable with good body," I wrote in my listening notes. "Full. Rich. Good timbre and texture. Good sense of space." Though small, the 371 is robust. An auspicious debut. Simaudio expects to begin shipping the Moon 371 later this month. 
