To Aron Garrecht,
All very good [regarding the Simaudio Moon 888 mono amplifiers], but where is the comparison to other non-Simaudio gear? A review in isolation tells the reader very little and at $118k-plus [per pair], the least we should expect is for you and SoundStage! Ultra to go that extra mile and do some comparisons. Otherwise, why don’t you just print the press release and brochure? Or was it a condition of your review that there would be no comparison, especially if fewer dollars could buy comparable or better sound? So come on SoundStage! Ultra, tell us what we really need to know -- where does the 888 stand in comparison to the competition?
Regards,
Bill McCardle
United Kingdom
Thanks for your feedback. You bring up a valid point that I am happy to address. I will start by saying that it is not always possible to perform A/B comparisons with other similar products for a number of reasons. In this case, the 888s were compared to the W-7Ms because I own the W-7Ms as my reference amps, and using another Simaudio product for the point of comparison offered a unique opportunity to outline the advancements made in the 888 over a previous flagship model, and describe where the additional resources were allocated. Next, there simply aren’t that many comparable products on the market, and, as such, there weren’t any other “direct competitor” products available at the time of this review to use as a point of comparison. Additionally, the cost, complexity, and associated shipping arrangements required of a product like a pair of 888s, and other amplifiers of similar size, makes lining up parallel reviews very difficult. Sometimes this can be done if there is an overlap in the review period, or, the manufacturer happens to be close to a reviewer’s home, which can ease these arrangements, but, unfortunately, this wasn’t the case here. Finally, there are very few pairs of these amplifiers (I believe three worldwide) available for various audio shows and for reviewers, and, as a result, the window of time I had with them was very specific. I did not have any other amplifiers of any kind arriving within that window for additional points of comparison, and there wasn’t enough time to make arrangements to have other products here during the review. I want to stress, however, that never was there any condition of any kind placed by Simaudio on the review and whether or not a comparison could be made to a competing product. I was free to do what I wanted to.
I hope this helps shed some light on why the W-7Ms were used for this review as the sole point of comparison, Bill. We try our best to offer direct comparisons of competing manufacturers, but it just isn’t always possible, particularly for product as exclusive as this one. . . . Aron Garrecht
