Experience with Simaudio Moon North amps

Simaudio hit the ball out of the park with the 791/761 combo. If you are in the beginning stages you might want to consider going with the naturally synergistic 791 or 891 with whatever amp you choose. I think the 761 and 861 are very similar, on paper (reading Simaudio Website) albeit more power on 861. If it were me I’d go with the larger stereo amp, the 861 and the 791 (or if funds permit the 891), strap that to your Sonus Faber and call it a day!  Two beautiful chassis’s and reference level  performance. 

@kerrybh if 85 dBs is your typical listening level I believe the 791 will work extremely well for you.

Also consider the dimension of the amplifies - the 861 may not fit easily on your rack based on weight or dimensions.

Thing with the Sim amps is that Sim has stated in an interview that their amps were designed to be mono first and also support stereo. Sounds like a bit of marketing to potentially sell 2 mono amps vs 1 stereo.

I liked the 761 a lot and may buy it. I do not think the 791 was as good as my cheaper source chain. The 791 is super convenient and sounds really good but I think the price is a bit high. However, if I was advising a friend on a system, I would say to get the 761 and 791 combo over what I have. It is so convenient and has a high-quality sound.

My source setup.

- Optical streaming with a Sonore opticalRendu (much better than ANY Ethernet)

- Schitt Yggi+ OG (easy call over the ESS chip in the 791)

- Holo Audio Serene preamp is not perfect but as good as the 791 preamp section. 

YYZ, did you side by side compare the 791 with Schitt and Holo or basing that off personal inference?

At the risk of derailing this amplifier thread to talk digital for a minute:

The 791 has more digital technology than just an ESS chip. There is a custom FPGA that handles clocking and other DSP functions. I don’t think it’s a fair call to assess any DAC by calling out the engineering choices on conversion technology (aka the DAC chip itself) a company makes. There are many factors to the final sound quality. Analog output stage, power supply design, layout topology, etc.

For what it’s worth on an internet forum, I have owned many high end dacs, one of which was a Bricasti M21 (for over a year). The M21 has the best implementation in the Bricasti lineup for the analog volume control. So it’s a 16K streamer, DAC, and preamp in one. The 791 is also a 16K streamer, DAC, phono stage, and preamp. It’s my opinion that both the 791 and M21 are top flight DACs and preamps and can be compared and contrasted fairly. I like them both a lot. There is system synergy b/t the amp and the 791 front end I think the only way to exceed its performance would be to add the external 820S power supply or move to the top tier 891 piece. Just one small opinion from a happy camper. Peace to all and enjoy the music!

I did not compare my gear hooked up to a 761 against the 791. However, I have compared RJ45 streaming DACs against fibre optical and always preferred fibre. So, my preference there is based on prejudice for fibre. The dealer was not impressed by my view on this, but I am going by my ears.

I get what you are saying about the 791. It is an excellent overall unit. I just feel that a better volume control can be found in the super quiet Serene preamp (or Benchmark LA4/HPA4).

I did get a bit of fatigue on the Parasound Persona 9H system I heard the 761 and 791 on. Now I do not think it was the Moon gear, but it made me focus on the top end more than I expected. I think I get more detail out of the Yggi+.

With regards to the Yggi+ OG. I just have a huge appreciation of how great this thing is. It is much better than the $15k DAC that it replaced. It is super detailed without being fatiguing. It maybe is not the deepest soundstage but I do not care about that. I would love to connect the Yggi+ OG into the 791 via XLR and use fibre and do a head-to-head.  Fibre has never lost for my ears.