Experience with Simaudio Moon North amps

Had a similar experience. Went to a local Audi dealership years ago for a test drive appointment when I was shopping for a new car. Two people were on the phone. Few were socializing. The rest were just walking around ignoring me. I stood by the greeting desk for 10 minutes listening to their phone conversations. I felt like I was a ghost. It was The  Sixth Sense type of moment. Not a single person looked at me, said anything or acknowledged me in any way. Outcome? I’m enjoying my 4th BMW now. 
 

Re: @ackerdo ’s comment about upper midrange emphasis with the 761 - FWIW I heard this with the 791 pre + DAC, but did not hear this at all with the dCS DAC. It sounds like you have a Mola Mola Makua which is an incredibly neutral preamp (I own two of them) so that’s not the cause either. I can only conjecture that the 791 pre is somewhat complementary/compensating of the 761 amp in that area, or there is something else interacting with the particular configurations you’ve tried. Certainly something to watch out for if you’re not going to use it with the 791. I’m still mulling the 761 with my Makua and Audiovector R3 myself.

@taww I had the 791/761 combo for many months and can tell you that this pairing will need careful matching with speakers and cables. There is a slight tendency to forwardness / sharpness in the presence region. You can tame it / work with it as the 791/761 has many strengths and is a testament to the design engineering at Simaudio. I ultimately ended up selling my 791 and moved to a playback mpd-8 DAC which presents a different, and yet more natural tonality and listening experience in this critical area, as it ought to considering the price differential. I did play around with my PS Audio DirectStream DAC with the 761 and rediscovered what I loved about that DAC ; super listenable, engaging , and less digital sounding than most DACs. Fast forward and recently installed a Backert Labs Rhythm 1.4 preamp and once again the system takes on a whole new personality and sound. The 761 amp is a chameleon and will play whatever it’s fed, synergy or not. That somewhat forward and slightly sharper perspective is nowhere to be found. I am coming up on a year of ownership with the 761 which is somewhat of a personal record as of the last few years of high system churn. I can’t imagine what amp would surpass this piece without parting ways with at least 10K in addition to sending the amp on its way , and yet even then it’s not going to be a massive improvement. The good news here is that the 761 is a stellar amp and totally gets out of the way of the source; just doing its job as a pure power amp. 

@dpac996 that all matches my observations and it’s great to hear the 761 is working so well for you. The 791 DAC had a pretty obvious sibilance/forwardness which I hear from many Sabre based DACs and is easily heard through the 761. I also have a DirectStream so I know what you mean about naturalness -  I now have two Mola Mola DACs for that reason.
 

Though my time with the North system was brief, it was obvious to me the 761 was excellent and more resolving/engaging than past Sim amps I’ve heard. The flip side of the resolution is of course bringing out other warts in your system and I have gone through this same journey with my Gryphon Essence - the better I’ve made the rest of my system, the smoother and more natural it’s sounded without losing any bite or resolution. I don’t know that the 761 is as good as the Essence, but I was impressed I didn’t have to adjust my expectations as much as the price difference would suggest.

@taww Yessir. You nailed it with the highly resolving amps! Wide open window and sometimes when you look out you see weeds...Silly analogy, I know. I would love to hear that Gryphon amp someday. Always wanted to try the Diablo 300. My speakers are ATC SCM50 passives and suck up the watts (ex on high dynamic transients, to make those big woofers move in step, the instantaneous demand current spikes proportionally and can be much higher than expected ) so if I ever do end up trying a different amp I want at least 200 wpc into 8, doubling down ish. The 761 rates to 400 wpc at 4 but have not yet seen how it does into 2..The ATC 50's low point is only 5.5 ohms but they are medium/low sensitivity around 86 dB/1 watt. The other factor is the room and thermal management: I used to have big Pass amps and they sound wonderful, but they simply cook me because the room is sun facing and on main floor. In a cold basement it's a different story, but I moved up a level in the house as the room sounds the best. Congrats on the Mola Mola DAC's very nice. I had a chance to hear it at home. Bruno is a genius.