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Bel Canto REF1000M vs. Simaudio Moon 400M

During the past year Simaudio has come out with a class A/AB mono amplifier, the Moon 400M, which appears to have the virtues of class D amps. It puts out 400 watts rms into 8ohms and peaks at 56 amperes, runs cool to slighty warm and weighs 25 lbs. Cost is $ 6500.00 a pair. Very few reviews, and the Soundstage review is outstanding. The Bel Canto REF1000M puts out 500 watts rms into 8ohms and peaks at 45 amperes. Cost is $ 6000.00 a pair. The Moon 400M has a larger power supply. Has anyone listen to both of these models and how do they compare to each other? I suspect the Sim Moon is better but I haven't listened to the 400M. Has Bel Canto finally met its match?
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Showing 1 response by 1graber2

1graber2's avatar
1graber2
303 posts
 
I have a Bel Canto e.DAC 2.5 upstream and have heard their mono blocks at AV shows/stores. I am looking into the 400Ms now. I dont think the Bel Canto monos have enough bite to properly complement my present system.

What I am getting at, is that both amps sound very good depending on what you are running upstream. I have a Bel Canto DAC, a BAT tubed pre, and a SS Pass Labs x150. The Pass Labs is impressive, but since I have a tubed amp, I need more bite from SS.
If I had a SS preamp, then I would go for the Bel Canto Monoblocks to smooth things over, and make up for what I would lose from the warmer sounding BAT tubed pre.
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