Integrated SS amps - Luxman vs. Simaudio Moon?


Instead of separates, I am considering a high quality integrated amp for my new system. The speakers I am considering (Verity Audio) are not hard to drive. The two brands at the top of my list are:

Simaudio Moon Evolution i-7 (or the new 700i) vs.

Luxman L-509u (or L-590Aii 30 wpc pure class A).

I have heard theses units in different systems at different dealers, and so not direct comparisons.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Regards,

Mark
toronto416
You might want to check out Blue Circle from Innerkip ON Canada. Gilbert makes some very fine products. I assume you are in the Toronto area so auditioning it would be easy.
Interesting- I didn't realize that Blue Circle was an Ontario based company.

In researching high quality audio, I keep discovering more high quality Canadian made products (Verity Audio, Totem, Gershman, Simaudio, Bryston, Classe, Oracle, Blue Circle etc).

Must be the long cold winters...

Regards,

Mark
They have a dealer in Toronto, but I don't know who it is. Just give them a call 519-469-3215. They have a message on their site that email is currently down.

Gilbert Yeung (owner/designer) is great to work with.
The components we have been discussing (Luxman 590Aii, Verity Audio Rienzi) are not ones that I can audition in my city.

Some days I think that I should just play it safe and buy stuff that I can see, touch, audition TOGETHER, and enjoy such as B&W 803d speakers driven by Bryston electronics (BP-26 and 4B or 14B SST2) with either a Bryston or Esoteric CD player.

Trying to put together a system on paper that is "better" means that I will hear it for the first time after I buy it and set it up in my listening room.

Is this a risk worth taking, and is it even an intelligent approach to spending a considerable sum of money?

Regards,

Mark
If you take a trip to Montreal, you can hear the Verity ... maybe at the factory. ;-)

I purchased my Playback Designs MPS-5, Blue Circle BC206 & BC208 sight unseen and it worked out. When I purchased the BC206 ($15k US), I knew very little of Blue Circle and Gilbert. I suppose it was a little risky. I did trust the opinions of people I know however.