search
In the May 2015 issue, I fairly raved about Simaudio's Moon Evolution 740P line-stage preamplifier, and now here I am confronting its Moon Evolution 860A power amp. The two are companion models of sorts, with prices of $9500 for the 740P, $15,000 for the 860A—and for much of the time I spent listening to the 740P it was hooked up to the 860A, so some of the descriptions of sound in this review will seem familiar. The two components are both products of the same design shop—Simaudio, Ltd., of Quebec, which has been a prominent brand in high-end audio for 35 years—and are often marketed as a…
I don't mean, by any of this, to compare the Simaudio 860A with any current Krell power amps (which, in any case, I haven't heard). I'm only saying that certain trade-offs that came with past Simaudio amps have—at least with the 860A—largely evaporated.
However, one comparison that I noted back in 2011—between the percussive touch and the gorgeous overtones of Frank Kimbrough's piano on the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra's Sky Blue (CD, ArtistShare AS0065)—still held true: the 860A still didn't let me hear quite the full body contact with those keys. But, at the same time, the harmonic…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state, dual-mono power amplifier. Inputs: 1 unbalanced (RCA), 1 balanced (XLR). Outputs: 2 pairs binding posts with biwiring option. Power output: 200Wpc into 8 ohms (23dBW), 400Wpc into 4 ohms (23dBW). Frequency response: 10Hz–200kHz, +0/–3dB. Voltage gain: 31dB. THD: <0.015% (20Hz–20kHz, 1W), <0.04% (20Hz–20kHz, 200W). Signal/noise: >106dB (full power). Input impedance: 47.5k ohms. Power consumption: 55W at idle.
Dimensions: 18.6" (476mm) W by 7.5" (191mm) H by 17.4" (445mm) D. Weight: 84 lbs (38kg) net, 88 lbs (40kg) shipping.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: VPI Classic turntable & JMW tonearm, Ortofon Cadenza Blue cartridge.
Digital Source: Krell Cipher SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Nagra BPS battery-powered phono stage; Simaudio Moon Evolution 740P and Pass Laboratories XP-30 line stages.
Power Amplifiers: Pass Laboratories XA60.5 monoblocks.
Integrated Amplifier: Simaudio Moon Evolution 700i.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio2.
Cables: Interconnect & Speaker: Nirvana. AC: manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Bybee Technologies Signature power conditioner (…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed a full set of measurements on the Moon Evolution 860A (serial no. 4524200) using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). As the amplifier is specified as having a maximum power output of 200Wpc into 8 ohms, I preconditioned it before the measurements by running it at one-third that power, 67W, into 8 ohms for an hour. Following that period, the heatsinks were warm, at 110.2°F (43.4°C). The THD+noise percentage at this power level was 0.0126% with the amplifier cold, 0.0115% with it fully warm.
The…
With fame fleeting and lucrative ideas always ripe for imitators, the music business is perpetually looking for the “next” somebody. The best example is the neverending “next” Dylan sweepstakes. Springsteen grabbed that title for a minute as did Steve Forbert, Willie Nile and many others. Now along comes Leon Bridges who, it’s being whispered, is the “next” Sam Cooke. At this year’s South by Southwest music extravaganza in Austin he was the act to see. Every one of his shows was packed. And his debut album, Coming Home and its newly released single of the same name were the talk of the entire…
How would you feel after paying $2000 for super-stereo system, you learned that genuinely high-fidelity recordings of many excellent classical musical performances were not available to you? Could you excuse it with a shrug and the philosophical observation that nothing's perfect but things will get better as the state of the recording art improves? Okay then, what if you learned that truly high-fidelity recordings of these performances, that would sound very much like the real thing if reproduced through your super system, are available to millions of other people but not to you? Would you…
Is it because no one takes pot shots at you unless you're on top? Or are the most recent criticisms of Klaus Heymann and his diversified Naxos Digital Services empire on to something more?
To refresh: Heymann, a German entrepreneur who began selling cameras and stereos to American GIs in Vietnam, and later become the Hong Kong distributor of Bose and Studer audio gear, launched Naxos, a classical-music label specializing in budget-priced CDs, in 1987 (footnote 1). The label's name is also easy to pronounce in any language. Heymann began to build the Naxos catalog—now one of the largest…
Friday, August 7, 5–9pm, and Saturday, August 8, 10am–7pm: Yamaha and Fillion Électronique will participate in the OSM Classical Spree Music Festival, to be held at Place des Arts (1600 Saint-Urbain Street, Montreal).
The Yamaha/Fillion exhibit and listening room, located near the Maison Symphonique de Montreal, will feature Yamaha's CD-S3000 CD player and A-S3000 integrated amplifier (above), driving Focal's Sopra loudspeakers. All cables will be provided by AudioQuest, including: Aspen speaker cables, Wind interconnects (below), Coffee USB, and NRG-1000 AC power cables.
In…
If anyone can be said to be the guru of the transmission line, that would have to be Irving M. "Bud" Fried. He has been promoting the design for years now, first with the made-in-England IMF designs, later with the designs of Fried Products, made right here in the US of A. He has long been convinced of the basic superiority of the design, and still uses it in his top-of-the-line systems. But true transmission lines are invariably big, heavy, hard to build, and, for all of those reasons, expensive. Essentially, they involve a long, convoluted, heavily damped tunnel behind the bass driver…