Martin Dew
Reach for the Moon
Quebec-born Sima Electronics, now called Simaudio, was founded in 1980, and in the company's own words, was 'born of a passion to offer consumers an alternative to mass market audio products.' Although originally building products for professional applications, the audiophile community started to sit up and take notice of the line's sonic excellence, and consequently most of the company's output ended up in home environments.
With an awe-inspiring string of awards under its belt, and the introduction of the Moon Evolution series of products in 2005, Simaudio has continued to churn out reference-quality pre-, power, and integrated amps for discerning consumers in a challenging high-end marketplace for nearly 40 years. And you should have no illusions about what this company stands for - its mission statement is clear: 'to make the best sound system ever made.'
Earlier this year, Simaudio announced its MOON 888 mono power amplifier. Priced at $118,888 for a pair, you could just consider slipping these into your home theater to power your left and right, and possibly even your center channel, if you're feeling particularly flush. Let's face it, these amps are for the other half, but it's useful to know what can be achieved when a team of fanatical Canadian boffins put their heads together.
Simaudio calls Moon 888 - its most powerful amplifier to date - a 'statement', rather than 'just another monoblock amplifier.' And get this: it's rated at 888 watts (as in the product name) into 8 ohms, and a staggering 1776 watts into 4 ohms. Okay, let's say you are using 2 ohm speakers - that's a 3,550 watts. The shipping weight is 300lbs per unit, so check with Amazon before agreeing to have it delivered to your doorstep.
The company claims that it renders a signal 'so accurately that it simply does not impart any character of its own.' Its technical highlights read like a roll-call of never-heard-of-that features of pure production excellence and precision. The single-piece cast aluminum heat sinks are manufactured using the same processes as high-performance racing engines, the computer numerical controlled (CNC) machining assures a fit and finish to within 1/1,000th of an inch, vibration is dampened down to 'vanishing point', and even the heavy-duty speaker output connectors are plated with rhodium, the precious metal used in jewelry fabrication to shine white gold.
Combined with a power supply consisting of two 1kVA toroidal transformers coupled with an 8kW capacity output on its enormous cast-aluminum heat sinks, Simaudio claims the MOON 888 can drive any load with 'complete effortlessness.'
If you've had a chance to audition a pair at your neighborhood dealership, or heard them rocking the aisles at the local hi-fi show, let us know. I, for one, will be placing my order for six today.
Reach for the Moon
Quebec-born Sima Electronics, now called Simaudio, was founded in 1980, and in the company's own words, was 'born of a passion to offer consumers an alternative to mass market audio products.' Although originally building products for professional applications, the audiophile community started to sit up and take notice of the line's sonic excellence, and consequently most of the company's output ended up in home environments.
With an awe-inspiring string of awards under its belt, and the introduction of the Moon Evolution series of products in 2005, Simaudio has continued to churn out reference-quality pre-, power, and integrated amps for discerning consumers in a challenging high-end marketplace for nearly 40 years. And you should have no illusions about what this company stands for - its mission statement is clear: 'to make the best sound system ever made.'
Earlier this year, Simaudio announced its MOON 888 mono power amplifier. Priced at $118,888 for a pair, you could just consider slipping these into your home theater to power your left and right, and possibly even your center channel, if you're feeling particularly flush. Let's face it, these amps are for the other half, but it's useful to know what can be achieved when a team of fanatical Canadian boffins put their heads together.
Simaudio calls Moon 888 - its most powerful amplifier to date - a 'statement', rather than 'just another monoblock amplifier.' And get this: it's rated at 888 watts (as in the product name) into 8 ohms, and a staggering 1776 watts into 4 ohms. Okay, let's say you are using 2 ohm speakers - that's a 3,550 watts. The shipping weight is 300lbs per unit, so check with Amazon before agreeing to have it delivered to your doorstep.
The company claims that it renders a signal 'so accurately that it simply does not impart any character of its own.' Its technical highlights read like a roll-call of never-heard-of-that features of pure production excellence and precision. The single-piece cast aluminum heat sinks are manufactured using the same processes as high-performance racing engines, the computer numerical controlled (CNC) machining assures a fit and finish to within 1/1,000th of an inch, vibration is dampened down to 'vanishing point', and even the heavy-duty speaker output connectors are plated with rhodium, the precious metal used in jewelry fabrication to shine white gold.
Combined with a power supply consisting of two 1kVA toroidal transformers coupled with an 8kW capacity output on its enormous cast-aluminum heat sinks, Simaudio claims the MOON 888 can drive any load with 'complete effortlessness.'
If you've had a chance to audition a pair at your neighborhood dealership, or heard them rocking the aisles at the local hi-fi show, let us know. I, for one, will be placing my order for six today.
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