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Bel Canto REF1000M vs. Simaudio Moon 400M

During the past year Simaudio has come out with a class A/AB mono amplifier, the Moon 400M, which appears to have the virtues of class D amps. It puts out 400 watts rms into 8ohms and peaks at 56 amperes, runs cool to slighty warm and weighs 25 lbs. Cost is $ 6500.00 a pair. Very few reviews, and the Soundstage review is outstanding. The Bel Canto REF1000M puts out 500 watts rms into 8ohms and peaks at 45 amperes. Cost is $ 6000.00 a pair. The Moon 400M has a larger power supply. Has anyone listen to both of these models and how do they compare to each other? I suspect the Sim Moon is better but I haven't listened to the 400M. Has Bel Canto finally met its match?
audiozen
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,590 posts
 
Audiozen, for whatever reason i am not hearing what you relate having heard with the class ds in my system for whatever reason. My conclusions are a lot more positive than yours. Class a/b andclass d are radically different technologies. Hard to base comparisons on any one or two specs alone. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree maybe.
zugisland
42 posts
 
Audiozen , thanks for the feedback on the PBD mpd3 i went and got a piece to audition home and was blown away , certainly the best digital i ever heard ...although my limited dac vocab has consited of Bel Canto Wyred for sound hegel and the 300d from Sim ...oh and the the high end MSb and wiess which i htink the PBD beat hadnitl thanks V
1graber2's avatar
1graber2
303 posts
 
I have a Bel Canto e.DAC 2.5 upstream and have heard their mono blocks at AV shows/stores. I am looking into the 400Ms now. I dont think the Bel Canto monos have enough bite to properly complement my present system.

What I am getting at, is that both amps sound very good depending on what you are running upstream. I have a Bel Canto DAC, a BAT tubed pre, and a SS Pass Labs x150. The Pass Labs is impressive, but since I have a tubed amp, I need more bite from SS.
If I had a SS preamp, then I would go for the Bel Canto Monoblocks to smooth things over, and make up for what I would lose from the warmer sounding BAT tubed pre.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,590 posts
 
1grab,

For what is is worth, I have found that ICs used to feed my Bel Canto ref1000m monoblocks can make a huge difference in resulting sound from smoother and more laid back to considerable bite, at least with some speakers and associated room acoustics that might have any inclinations that way at all. My preferred ICs for good "bite" along with all the rest are DNM Reson. MIT ICs with their network device boxes tend to be smoother and more laid back. I have used both to very good effect but prefer the DNMs these days in my main system with the BC amps running both Dynaudio and OHM speakers.
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