Pulled the trigger on a Moon 861! Hope it pairs well on my Focals

Do the Focal's have Beryllium tweeters? I have heard the 761 with Paradigm Persona 9H (791 was preamp and DAC)..It was a bit fatiguing to me.

Yes, they do have those tweeters. I also have the Macintosh C12000 preamp so I'm hoping it will soften the highs with its tubes 

I think you bought a great amplifier. I’ve had a chance to hear the 761 and 861 and owned sim  products in the past. I suspect you will find you will have enough power for any speakers, and that the sim audio will not color the music in any way, instead any coloration will come from the preamp and speakers. Congratulations

The MacIntosh preamp may have the balancing effect you are hoping for. Tell us what happens.

Don't forget that a new solid state amp typically starts out very trebly and then softens over the first 100 to 200 hours. 

I know this, but I just can't help but draw conclusions when I put a new amp in my system, even after knowing this for decades. I get all upset... then it settles down. This happened to me recently... and it settled down so much, it was as if it was a completely different amp.  

I think the Persona with Beryllium tweeters are bright in general.  I think the Moon high end amps are awesome.  

I hope your purchase meets your expectations and you are pleased with the pairing.  I'm interested in your thoughts after the amp is run in.  Good luck and cheers!

@fastfreight yeah, you’re right. I’ve heard Focal on Macintosh which is supposed to be warm and even on that some recordings sounded bright. It really depends on the recording in my opinion. I find that with my Luxman 595, guitar music will sound a bit hard to listen to after a while because it’s recorded with a lot of treble in my opinion. But other music like classical, jazz, and reggae, the brightness of the focals turn to pure magic 

Just to note I haven’t got my new amp yet talking about the Luxman that I currently use which is a great amp to. I’ll be keeping it as a extra

@dman777 it sounded bright because your speakers have a more present presentation to their mid treble and upper treble. So combine that with records that may be mixed and mastered bright and yes some stuff will sound bright

it is not an annoying brightness as it isn't peaky but a gradual uplift in their balance beyond lower treble.

I've had the Moon North on Focal beryllium (Kanta, Sopra, and Utopia) and it's a great match. The Moon is never harsh and everything is controlled well. Warmer than I expected. I have not tried your pre. I've only run with Moon North 891.

My friends that don't like Focal beryllium were not run out of the room with only two setups: the Moon North, and Classe Delta power/pre. Everything is smooth and well balanced and never offensive.

Moon products are great and neutral with no coloration. Like others have mentioned, your preamp will soften the sound. Also, moon and dynaudio pair great together. 

Mac does have a mellow sound, but there’s only so much they can overcome. A few years back, I listened to a lovely system that was all new Macintosh equipment and the newest B&W 80? Speakers. No matter where I sat, no matter how I readjusted the speakers, they hurt my ears at levels in the 75-80 db range.  
Everyone’s hearing is different, but for me, I can’t listen to any metal tweets. That’s why I got rid of my KEF Reference 5’s.  They had aluminum tweeters and midrange drivers.

Simaudio Moon electronics are clear and transparent. Pair them with very revealing speakers and a front end that’s not on the same level and you’re in a world of trouble. 
I would say this is one of the cases when you can build your system around the amplifier. I wouldn’t be surprised if this purchase has a domino effect. We’ll be hearing more from the OP on this. Lol

My speaker is like a Beryllium based speaker, the Yamaha NS5000 (the child of the Be Original Gangster, so to speak). It uses Zylon for the drivers, and it is as detailed as Be.

After hearing the 761 I wanted to get it to pair it with the NS5000, because that would be something special. Great detail but no harshness and also lots of power. I would have rotated the CODA #16 amp and the 761/861 between my 2 system. Luckily, I am tapped out $$ wise and went with a cheaper amp (good enough for now).

@audphile1 Have you heard the North collection? I haven't heard the previous models but I was told that the previous models were clear and transparent while the North more colored and warm (when compared to the previous models).

I have the amp but it is not hooked up yet... I need someone to help me lift it out of the case. 

I’ve been using a pair of Sopra n.2 for quite some time.  My Moon 720i worked very well at moderate volume.  Currently I’m using a MA9500 with 300wpc for my large room. 

No. Had the 330a though. It was transparent but never harsh. I have a lot of doubts about the new moon north being colored and warm in any way. You don’t want this level of amplifier to color and warm things. Expect it to be refined and present a super clear view of what’s in the source. 

I am interested in you conclusions about the equipment pairing. I have a pair of Moon 880M's & am in need of new speakers. Focals are on the short list.

I have the 700i integrated and it loves my Sopra 2’s. Same tweeters you have. Should be a great pairing for you!,

I just got it hooked up to my McIntosh C12000 preamp and the Eversolo z8 streamer/dac. I have to say, compare to my Luxman 595 class A amp it sounds thin. My luxman 595, although on the bright side, sounded way fuller and even more holographic.

Compared to the what I heard in the audio store (McIntosh C12000 preamp,  DynAudio Contour Legacy towers and the DAC from Moon streamer(not sure if it was the 891 or 791) there is hardly any bass at all.

The Moon instructions say that ’The performance of this device will continue to improve during the first 100 hours of listening.’... is that why? Will it be that significant? 

Typically the sound will change a lot... being less trebly and more natural... often takes a lot more than 100 hours. 

I'm not sure why, but many companies are shy about documenting the  long burn in... even through it is required. My Audio Research gear took 600 hours to stabilize and even after that there was very slight improvements over the next 400. I burned in three of the same amps... and it followed exactly the same pattern.

I’d run it 24 x 7 for a couple weeks. 

So far I have about 10 hours on it. I am starting to hear the beauty come out of it which is really nice. 

One thing that bothers me, though, is.... currently I have just the Eversolo Z8 DAC on it. I have the McIntosh disconnected while I burn 100 hours (in about 2 weeks). 

I have the Eversolo at 70% volume and I feel like it's not as loud as I would like it to be. I can go to 80% but it gets a bit to boomy and tiny bit muddy. For instance, my Luxman 595 is super loud at 60% volume, I can't go louder without blowing the speakers. Will the Moon amp also get louder as the hours burn in? 

So, you are using your DAC straight into the amp... that is the issue. It is the input to your amp that determines the volume you get out. Your preamp should provide the input voltage (I think that is the parameter). An amp does not vary its amplification... that is what the preamp does... unless your are using your DAC as a preamp as w'll (unlikely to sound great). Should sound great with lots of volume when you put your Mac back in. 

@dman777 matter of sensitivity and gain matching. Don’t worry about it for now. Break it in first. 

Changing an amplifier is a major impact on the system. It’s got to be matched with speakers as well as with upstream components and room. Don’t exclude the possibility that you will need to readjust speaker placement. But don’t do anything at all until you have a minimum of 200hrs on it or you will be chasing ghosts. 
Good luck!

I am using balanced inputs from the Eversolo to the Moon Audio amp. Would that mean I am using the Eversolo as a preamp? I use the Eversolo app to stream music from my phone bluetooth.  Is that ok that I have this particular setup or would could there be a mismatch in voltage with the amp that would cause the amp stress? 

If you are using Bluetooth then the volume on your phone needs to be raised. 
it’s fine for breaking in the amp but why not use the right setup?

Ya, I have the volume up 90% on my phone. This setup is only for breaking in the amp. I don't want to put 100 hours on the Macintosh amp if I'm not really listening. I'm going to try playing the amp on low volume while I sleep at night to try to get 8 hours a night on it.

Just keep it on 24/7 and play music thru it as much as you can. It’s going to be fine when your preamp is back in. 
what do you normally use as a source to feed the dac?

The ever solo z8 has a Bluetooth connection to my phone. So I play music on my phone and it goes through the eversolo DAC. Normally I would have the ever solo connected to the Macintosh C12000 preamp. Is that what you mean by use as a source to feed the dac?

Yes, you are using the Eversolo as a preamp...that it why your system is not sounding good. All should be good when you put your Mac back in. 

@dman777 yes. Bluetooth is a noisy and low resolution method of sending music to your DAC. You’ve invested significantly in your components. Get a proper streamer and connect it to the DAC using a good USB cable. Don’t use Bluetooth man. It sucks. 

Question, please:

I have the McIntosh c12000 preamp hooked back up to it along with the eversolo going to the preamp. 

On old recordings where volume is lower (like Ministry Everydays Halloween) I have my McIntosh preamp at 75%.

The eversolo is at 85% and my cell phone volume is at 90%. I am scared to increase the eversolo and cell phone volume to 100% because I am scared it would introduce to much gain and mess up the speakers. 

If I had a wifi streamer .... would I lose that extra volume the cell phone gives and have even less volume? 

It is a little disappointing to me to have to go that high to 75% on the moon on older recordings. Makes me wonder if I should of gotten to McIntosh 611 monoblocks instead so I never run out of power. 

Looking at your setup, you have at least two problem areas. 
In order of criticality 

1. You are using your cell phone to stream to your dac via Bluetooth. This type of interface is completely out of place in your system. 
2. Your dac is not on the level with the rest of your gear

Solution:

Option one - you need to get a streamer. Even something basic like a Lumin U2 Mini, Aurender N150 or something else in this category should do fine to start with. Connect the streamer to dac using USB cable. Ditch the Bluetooth dude. Forget about Bluetooth. 
 

Option two - get a better dac witj a built in streamer card. Use Roon or Tidal connect or Qobuz connect. Do not use airplay or Bluetooth. 
 

You literally wasted your money on 861 and the rest of your system if you carry on with Bluetooth streaming. Come on man. Let us know your budget and we can make a recommendation 

@audphile1 

+1

Exactly. I have to say the same stuff... hopefully differently. 1) is the big problem. The second is reducing the fidelity. 

1) There are two ways to do streaming with your Streamer / DAC. One is to "catch" the streaming service on your phone and then to send it to your DAC by some terrible sounding method like bluetooth. This is the wrong and vastly inferior way to do it. You want to be using the Eversolo app to control your Z8. In the Eversolo app (for your phone), you log on to Qobuz or Tidal... Hmm, I missed it, what service are you using? You should use Qobuz or Tidal.

 The give away is that there is a hookup problem is that you should not have a volume control on your phone in the loop.

2) Your Streamer / DAC budget consumer and you have high end Preamp, amp and speakers. This is a gross mismatch. You must choose wisely but and appropriate investment is that Streamer (individulal box)cost = DAC (cost) = Preamp = Amp. If this ratio is way out of whack then the sound quality you are getting is going to be very inferior.  If you want you can get a  Stream / DAC combo, but then it should be in the ballpark investment level of combined preamp and amp. 

G….his DAC has no network card. You can’t control it with the eversolo app. 
If on a budget the new WiiM Ultra is very decent. 
 

Let’s get the OP to respond with his budget on new digital front end. 
Also what is the current network situation? Do you have a network cable nearby that you can connect to the streamer? If not, is your wifi strong enough there? What does the speed test say when you run it near your system?

dman77 - You have the top of the line Simaudio Amyp.  For a simple two box solution, you might consider pairing it with one of their North Pre/DAC/Streamers, either the 791 ($16k) or the 891 ($25k) and sell/trade the other gear.  Their Sim Mind software provides a really easy way to stream from bluethooth to Qobuz (I'm testing Tidal out now).  I have the lower level Sims (330A/390) running to Magico A3s.  The Magicos have Be tweeters and its no problem.  Good luck!