2. amps-preamps
  3. 1077375122

Sim Audio Moon P-5 too dry

Just bought the Moon P-5 & am finding the sound too dry & the treble is sounding too crisp/high. Mind you I dont like warm tube like sound, I like fast & neutral, yet I am not liking the sound of the MOON P-5!!!

My system Bryston 4B-ST, Sony SCD-C555ES SACD player, Energy Veritas 2.4 speakers, Kimber Silver Streak Cables.

The Moon has been run in already, so thats not an issue here.

Before I had the same setup but was using my Yamaha RX-V800 home theatre receiver as the pre-amp. The Bryston was running the main 2 front channels. Honestly it did not sound bad. Now I get the moon and I am not too happy, actually I am totally lost!!!.

People please help me out, do I need to change my CD Player though I need to have a SACD player due to my SACD collections. Maybe I can keep this player & get a seperate CD player or get a DAC. I am not changing the Energy Veritas I have decided on that.

Thanks & I really need the help.
jiya3600
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
While I can't be sure without hearing your system, you are however also describing my impression of some Kimber cables.

BTW...What speaker cables?
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
The most common brightness problems in solid state gear is handling high impedance loads that usually occur above the highest crossover point.
I'd start talking of your speakers, if I didn't hear myself the same problem with Merlyns when I heard setup at CES. That was one of the worst sounding rooms IMO. So speakers probably maynot be a culprit.
The other story is that Bryston is indeed truely well-engineered SS gear that may compete with much higher-priced models.
standingwave
10 posts
 
I have to agree with the first two posts. You might want to try some different interconnects. The P-5 appears to be the strongest part of your system right now, and you might have to play around a bit to get the sound you like. Try a good balanced XLR cable between the P-5 and Bryston (assuming it has XLR inputs) and maybe take out that Kimber cable, at least to try some other interconnects. Also, you might want to try borrowing a decent power cord from someone to try on your SACD player. Sometime they can tame the too-crisp highs.

Good luck,

Derek
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Seems I wrongly thought of poweramp instead of preamp.
This case is quite simplier:
You can get passive preamp and compare with P-5. There are lots of them on the market in sub-$500 range. You'll be completely stoned.
gliderguider's avatar
gliderguider
294 posts
 
My P-5 also sounds a bit dry, but not egregiously so. I agree that some cable swapping is in order. My suggestion would be to try either Wireworld Gold Eclipse 5 or Acoustic Zen Reference Matrix II in XLR configuration out to the amp. Borrow cables if you can, from dealers or friends, to sii if they might change the sound in directions you like.

The suggestion of trying a used passive in place of the P-5 is also a good one. It might be less expensive than buying new cables. I bought a transformer based passive, and it sounded noticebly warmer and more musical than the P-5. But given that the P-5 is such a capable preamp, it's really worth trying to bring it on song first.
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