MOON I-5 versus KRELL KAV 400XI

Soory to hijack this thread..

what about Krell KAV400xi with Naim 202/200?

cheers

Soory to hijack this thread..

what about Krell KAV400xi with Naim 202/200?

cheers

A bit of a tangent maybe, hardly a hi-jack. I spent a bit of time with the current Naim 202/200 separates over several sessions at a dealer, and owned the Nait 5i for close to 2 years. The Naim separates are very fine, but very Naim; all of the Naim virtues of rhythmic drive, nice tonal balance, great mid-range, bass that has heft but good manners too. The separates are of a higher calibre overall than the integrateds under discussion here, as they should be for the price. Still, they have the Naim voice which you may or may not prefer; not the last word in soundstage, a sense of air and bloom, delicacy of decay of notes etc.

I think the little Nait 5i holds its own against the Krell 400 xi or the Simaudio 1-5, as long as it is used in a suitable application and set-up. Naim is pretty particular about partnering, from speaker cable and interconnect to equipment rack and speakers.

I might add that I may not have heard the Krell at its best; some devotees of Totem speakers, which I like too, say Krell is a great match with the somewhat forward or lively presentation of the Totems.

I have never known the Sim Audio products to be dry or dark sounding - at least in my side by side tests with Bryston, Ayre, Pass, and Cary (SS). All were separates though. I have never compared Krell to Moon in a meaningful and real test however.
I have listened to the I-5 a lot. The I-5 is the integrated that I would buy, the first I would think of -if I was buying an integrated. For some reason that I can't put my finger on, I like it better than the new I-7.
I am not in this industry at all, BTW.

The Moon should easily beat the Krell in every respect since it has a very refined sound.I've had a w-5 in my system that left a benchmark that has just been bettered by the Karan and that was no small feat.As to the previous posters experiences,the Moon gear is very sensitve to cabling and power requirements,if Sonic Beauty found it to be sparkle and bright,then i suspect that his cables may have been a poor choice.I have 2 friends who both have LE's and they love the Sim sound,while I also think very highly of the LE amp!As with all good amps,they only show you what is upstream and reflect it in the sound.The soundstage is as big as the starship enterprise and is extremely well layered and detailed.Dynamics are e and yet delicate when called on,this is probably the best Canadian amp currently in production.I would pick the SIM in a heart beat but only if I had a system that could support it!Good hunting-Dennis