Simaudio MOON Evolution 740P Preamplifier

musicmaniac22 wrote:

I am looking for a new solid-state preamplifier for one of my systems and have heard that the Simaudio MOON 740P is dead quiet, uncolored and loaded with many useful features. It also falls into my budget range.

http://www.simaudio.com/en/product/19-preamplifier.html

Does anyone here have any experience with this model ?

I've been told that you get a great deal of their MOON 850P's performance for about 1/3 of the price.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

IMO the 740P is way overpriced at $9000.

The Audio Research LS27 is much better-sounding and has more user-friendly features, including 7 balanced (and unbalanced, as desired) inputs, a 102-step volume control, 3 gain ranges for every channel, 6 brightness settings for the LARGE display which displays 6 things at once and others by remote control, etc. etc. For $7000 it simply blows the 740P away in every way. It does have two tubes which need replacing every two years or so. You can't ask for a quieter or better-sounding preamp.

The Musical Fidelity M8PRE is a solid-state preamp that IMO is also better than the 740P, and it sells for $4999 at Audio Advisor.

September 30, 2014 - 8:37pm

musicmaniac22

Offline

Last seen: 8 years 5 months ago

Joined: Sep 24 2014 - 11:06am

Thanks for your input. I used

Thanks for your input. I used to own tube gear, including ARC amps & preamps, but all too often the sound changes as the tubes age and this is something I want to avoid. Besides, I have heard the LS27 and it offers very decent bang for the buck when looking at the features, but I found that there were slight colorations in the frequency extremes. As for the M8PRe, I am simply not a fan of MF's sonic signature.

Should I assume that your are a happy owner of an LS22? Have you ever heard the MOON 740P? The aspect that are getting my attention are the 10 year warranty, the build quality and the reputation for a very neutral and uncolored sound; Of less importance, it does spec out exceptionally well and I love the look. Ultimately, I'm looking for a preamp that behaves simply as volume control and input switch, in other words no sonic character and I know that this doesn't come cheaply.

FYI, I am replacing a Mark Levinson No. 326S that I am not sonically overjoyed with.

October 2, 2014 - 8:47am

commsysman

Offline

Last seen: 2 years 5 days ago

Joined: Apr 4 2006 - 11:33am

PREAMP

I have an LS26 preamp, which is pretty much identical to the LS27 except for some minor changes.

I find it very neutral, but at maybe 1000 hours or so the tubes will start to lose something. There are two 6H30 tubes, which are exceptionally good tubes; a superior Russian design they developed for missle guidance applications. It costs about $80 to replace them every year or two. The preamp has a tube hours monitor function, so you can keeps tabs on their
age.

The earlier models all used the 6DJ8/6922 tube for years, which was not as good. I had the LS2B for years, and did some capacitor upgrades on it, but the LS26/27 are much better.

Have you had a chance to listen to the Ayre K5xe/MP? I have only heard it a couple of times, but my impressions were very positive. Stereophile did a write-up on it a couple of years ago, which you can check out here.

November 5, 2014 - 1:43pm

Henk

Offline

Last seen: 9 years 1 month ago

Joined: Nov 5 2014 - 1:31pm

preamp

I needed also a pure volume controller. so I bought one from audiocubics. They have also one with a change between two sources. I use for switching an= fully automatic switchbox ( nr 1177A-1 from Audio Authority. Cable Solutions in Richmond still sel them. I use the audiocubic between tv or blu-ray player and two active speakers (Adam 6). Why should you buy a complete preamp if you need only the controller?

Henk

November 14, 2014 - 10:05am

musicmaniac22

Offline

Last seen: 8 years 5 months ago

Joined: Sep 24 2014 - 11:06am

I have heard the AYre preamp

I have heard the AYre preamp and although they are revealing and tranparent, they sound, for a lack of a better term, too solid state for my ears. I know this is very subjective but I have to live with it. Therre's something about the 740P that I really like - its just not there. sonically and has the right number of inputs and outputs for my needs. Regarding tubes, I owned several classic ARC designs back in the 80's & 90's and they were exceptional for their time, but the one thing that bothers me about tubes is that the sound changes over time and a proper change over to new high quality ones is getting costlier every year.

I purchased a MOON 650D DAC/CD Tramsport earlier this year and recently the outboard 820S power supply for it and I am more satisfied than I expected with regards to digital playback, As a bonus, this power supply can also work with the 740P preamp, which I finally got to hear at a dealer's showroom. So I guess its only a matter of time and $$$ before I spring for a MOON 740P.

November 21, 2014 - 6:28pm

Allen Fant

Offline

Last seen: 1 month 1 day ago

Joined: Sep 12 2010 - 3:42pm

What is the rest of gear,

What is the rest of gear, including cables/cords, in your system Musicmaniac22 ?

Search form

You are here