Any Moonriver 404 users out there?

Yes, but now I see you were asking about the base model, which I have no experience with.

thank you @doni is that the reference version?

Looks like I’m in the minority here, but I think the Moonriver 404R is an outstanding integrated amp.  I’ve used mine with many different speakers, and had great results with them all.  Right now, it is powering some Cornwall 4’s in a large room, and I couldn’t be more pleased.  

gano I thought it sounded good in an absolute sense in that setting room and system I do not tend to think in those terms but I liked it and I was not alone in that opinion a lot of folks like that room.

thanls @jond ! When you say nice, do you mean $3000 or so nice?

Interesting I heard this amp at CAF powering Graham speakers and thought it sounded nice. Obviously I've never heard it in home and  surprised at all the negative feedback.

thanks @celtic66 I would love to hear a Sugden amp. Very hard to come by though. 

Sorry, cannot break away from Class A when done properly.  I've owned several Sugden pieces and now an ATC SCA 2 preamp, also Class A.  My reasons; immediacy of attack and dynamics,  With few exceptions, everything else is slow and smears.  Once you've experienced the energy and liveliness of Class A, most do not go backwards.  The music is on top of you, slamming.  Even orchestras benefit as individual sections become cohesive.

Not for everyone.  It is not lush and romantic and poor recordings need not apply as they will be ruthlessly revealed, rendered perhaps unlistenable.  The price paid.

Best success with your search.  BTW a Sugden A21SE is killer.  Cheers

@gano the Hegel should be perfect for it

@kofibaffour Model Ones

The Hegel should work with either then. Is it the Vandersteen Treo CT or something else? @gano 

Thanks @kofibaffour ! am using Klipsch RP8000F and may switch to a pair of used Vandersteens.

@gano well cos they can use a lot of marketing fluff well and we all get suckered one way or another. I've grown beyond that now so I rarely get taken in by marketing speak lol but yeah they're not the only one and there are even more egregious examples.

The H190 I've heard in a friend's space and yes they have pretty good transducer control because of their high damping factor which is very important... Also I think 150W into 8 ohm and 250W into 4 Ohms. 

Should work excellently with your speakers. You didn't mention the speakers you use though?

well, this is disappointing. I really wonder how they are able to sell a mediocre amp for so much money. For ~$2300 do you have any suggestion @kofibaffour ? 

One specific comparison: how would it match up with the Hegel H190?

@gano I had it for 2 years in my small space before getting my own place. I listen at a reasonably farfield location, so they didn't have the voltage swing necessary to keep cranking the SPL needed to get reference level volume at my seating distance and I also got new mains for my system last year as my old speakers were very old and one had a dented tweeter. T

hat was a mistake by me, and I won't make that mistake again prioritizing anything other than speaker/room synergy made me chase my tail.

Basically saying that you can do better for $2300 imo and if you say you have average sensitivity rated speakers I'd assume 85dB@2.83V/1m sensitivity.

That is fine but will mean more headroom needed the farther you sit and this one doesn't have the headroom unless your speaker is a 2-ohm minimum impedance load speaker, then you can get transient power levels of nearly 200W @ 2 Ohm 

Yes I matched it with Harbeth 30.1 and SHL5+

@gano yes you can

thanks @arafiq it sure isn't cheap! Did you match it with Harbeth speakers?

As someone who’s owned class A and D, I disagree. Class A still has its place. 

Class D on GaN is the way to go now. Class A is so passe unless you like hot running amps.

@gano i owned it for one month. This was one of the most underwhelming and disappointing experiences. Not only did it sound below average, it looked downmarket. I say move on. Not worth the price. 

Thanks @kofibaffour ! Can I message you a few questions?

the power delivery is too conservative unless you're using very efficient speakers. Decent balanced sound but overpriced for what you get @gano