SimAudio Moon North Collection

I thought they have not been released yet. The LA dealer that I bought some speakers from will call my in Oct when they come into the shop.

There will be a few older models in the used market soon.

@overthemoon  Shelleys in Woodland Hills CA, my local dealer is trying to sell their demo 860A V2. They have a 861 coming in.

http://www.shelleysstereo.com/

What did you find lacking and relative to what gear (to provide some context).

Thanks. I was surprised to see B&W and Moon paired together. Paradigm Persona and Moon is another combination that may not work the best for me.

I am going to compare a CODA SYSTEM 150 with the Moon 761 or 861 to see what matches best with my Yamaha NS5000.

@audphile1 Four weeks ago I drive from LAX airport to a HiFi store that had my speakers and the Moon North. Unfortunately, that arduous drive was not successful because the dealer closed early for some unstated reason.

This Thursday I make the reverse commute to LAX. I am trying to figure out how I can leave early to hit the store. The timing may not work out.

BTW - my early issues with my Livingroom system which uses the CODA have been resolved exactly as I wanted after I switched the Schitt Yggi+ LIM DAC for the Yggi+ OG DAC. I really have no issues with both my systems today. My desire to go and listen to the Moon is just for curiosity. I bought some speakers from this dealer so I do not think they would mind.

I just heard the 761 amp with the 700 series streaming DAC preamp. It was playing on the Parasound Persona 9H. When I had previously heard the 860 v1 it was on the Parasound Persona 5F.

I spent over an hour listening to various tracks and I came away thinking that it was smoother and more detailed than the 860A v1. The Persona’s still had a bit of an edge to it, but it was much less with the 761. The BE drivers on the Persona have a bit of edge to them compared to my NS5000.

There was great detail without much irritation. The sound was projected out more than with other systems I have heard. I am not sure if that is because of the Persona or the amp. The slight irritation I got was from the Persona or the smallish room.

I use a CODA #16 with my Yamaha NS5000 speakers. The NS5000 has some 6th degree of separation lineage with the Persona lineup. I think the NS5000 have better drivers than the Persona. I think the 761 (or 861) would great on the NS5000 and I will likely replace my Sanders Magtech with one of the North Collection amps.

I can rotate the CODA #16 and the Sim amps around with the Magnepan LRS+ and the Yamaha NS5000 speakers. The Sanders is not great with the NS5000. I will keep the CODA #16 which is great with both speakers and slightly different sounding from the Sim. Compared to the #16 the 761 sounded a little cleaner on top and maybe more detailed. Ernie Isley’s guitar solo on Summer Breeze sounded better on the 761, more details which made it sound like I was there. The slight Class A warmth of the #16 is something that I also love. The Sim does not have much of that.

My only uncertainty was whether the 761 could drive the bass of the NS5000 as well as the CODA. The 9H has powered subs so I was not really taxing the 761 during the listen.

I went and heard the Luxman 10x amp for a short period at a dealer today. It was an improvement on the Luxman m900u for my ears. I liked the 900 a lot but thought it was too warm. The 10x is not as warm and a touch warmer than the SimAudio 761 that I heard last week. I loved both amps. Now I have a dilemma. 

I also heard a $100k CH amp that sounded really good. I was thinking this amp was the winner until I heard the price. I am not one to normally go for the most expensive gear, but this CH amp sounded great.

The systems are different, but the sonic signature of an amp is rather easy to hear in a good system.

Are you talking about the Luxman m900u and the 10x? That was rather easy to hear with respect of the warmth of the amps. The speakers were Harbeth and Monitor Audio. Both were on the slightly warm side and not my preferred choices, but I adjusted to that. I am also going on memory of the m900u which I heard a few years ago with Harbeth. I almost bought the m900u. I did not because I did not think I could live with such as warm amp long-term.

If you are talking about the SimAudio 761 and the Luxman 10x that is a harder call since the Sim was playing on the brighter Paradigm Persona 9H which has powered bass drivers and really incredible DSP tuned base. I found the Luxman 10x warmer of the 2 and maybe a touch less detailed. However, the Persona is a detail monster and a bit bright; the Monitor Audio seemed a bit less detailed and warmer.

Given these system variables I am evaluating the Luxman and the Sim. My goal is to get a forever amp for my 2 systems. I already have the CODA #16 and evaluating other amps that are as good but sonically different. The Sim 761 is rather different from the #16. The Luxman is 10x not that much different.

I posted some more details on the Clarisys speakers that I heard at the shop that had the CH amp and the Luxman 10x. The Clarisys is a ribbon-based speaker that has some sonic resemblance to the RAAL 1995 Immanis headphone. I know the RAAL sound extremely well. So, the Clarisys demo gave me a good basis to compare with my #16 with the CH. I also own Magnepan LRS+ which the Clarisys also have some similarity too.

I have setup the RAAL headphones with my CODA #16 amp but that is not really relevant. The fact that they sounded sonically similar (maybe because of being ribbons) was the baseline. Not talking soundstage or imaging here.

I also get fatigued easy, which I found useful in evaluating gear. Funny thing is the worst demo (and most fatiguing) was with the Yamaha NS5000, the speaker I ended up buying and loving (I bought from another dealer).

On a side note, I am visiting my parents in Whitby, ON, Canada. There are 2 amazing hi-end stores cycling distance (10 min) on either side of town. I was able to sneak some audio listening sessions while visiting. I will be buying an amp from one of these Canadians if I get the Sim or Lux (almost certainly will).

I live in California and the dealer is in Canada. I cannot bring anything to the shop in Canada and when I go home there is zero chance of doing any demos. I live in Los Angeles area, with great audio shops but I will be too busy with 2 full-time jobs and my kid.

I have done comparisons at home in the past 5 years with more than 10 amps. I bought these units and sold them after not making the grade. The only one to stay is the CODA #16 (and most costly).

My amp comparisons today are with the CODA #16 as the baseline amp and the Yamaha NS5000 as the baseline speaker. I heard better amps during my recent demos in Canada but not a better speaker. I also have the RAAL 1995 Immanis headphone as another uber baseline comparison. Most speakers do not sound as good as that phone.

@hoodust I heard the 761 | 791 | Paradigm Persona 9H. It was very good, especially in the bottom end where the 761 was not really involved in. I had some issues with the top end (a bit of fatigue), and I also thought the 791 may not be as good as the Yggi+ OG DAC that I own, and think is incredible (at any price).

The 761 maybe the reason that the details I was hearing was amongst the best I ever heard. Like a Benchmark AHB2 but with a much calmer tone.

I have a fiber optic streamer | Yggi+ OG DAC | Holo Serene preamp. I think the combination of these 3 are better than the 791 that I heard. I would really need to do a lot more listening side-by-side, but from what I heard and my knowledge of the best way to stream, I take my setup over the 761,

However, the ease of use of a sometimes-complicated feature (streaming) is great with the single unit 791. I would recommend the 791 over my setup for ease of use. With further listening tests I bet could confidently say my stack sounds better (and is cheaper).

I am hoping to get a job next week. My reward for doing this extra job will be to buy either the Luxman M10x amp or the SimAudio 761 amp in Aug 2025.

Simaudio Moon 891 Streaming Preamplifier (soundstageultra.com)

The T+A top end line and the North Collection do not sound similar at all. At the opposite ends of the sonic spectrum for me. I prefer the North Collection over the T+A.