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


Well, I pulled the trigger and ordered a Moon 861 amp! I am very excited! It will be coming next week. I have a pair of focal Sopra n1 speakers that I'll be using on it. I've never heard them paired before. I heard a moon audio 761 on dynaudio towers and so that's what turned me on to The Moon North collection.

 

I'm feeling a little bit nervous. Hopefully it pairs really good with good synergy with the focals. Has anyone ever heard the moon north gear on Focals before?

dman777

Showing 8 responses by audphile1

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

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. 

@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!

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?

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?

@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. 

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 

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?