UHF No 70 (Net).indd - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine

possible. Our W-5 was, after all, one of
the world’s great amplifi ers. Yet we could
hear more detail, without the addition
of any unnatural brightness. The lowest
guitar notes were well fi lled out, which
didn’t slow the rhythm any. Although a
good image can be pretty much taken
for granted in any Opus 3 recording,
the W-5LE added both breadth and
depth to what was before us. “It sounds
almost like a tube amplifi er,” commented
Albert.
Our fourth and fi nal recording was
an LP: the Chorus Line suite from the
Dallas Wind Symphony’s impressive
Beachcomber double album (Reference
Recordings RR-62). This is a busy recording,
with an endless profusion of brass,
woodwinds, and heavy-duty percussion.
It sounded wonderful with our W-5, and
with the W-5LE, it was…
“It’s as though the clouds have
parted and the sun has come out,” said
Albert. “Listen to the way the brass
shines.” Once again, though, the shine
did not come at the expense of naturalness.
Smaller woodwind instruments,
which can easily be buried under the
rest, emerged intact, a testament to the
Compare the second-generation Moon
W-5 to its latest incarnation? Some challenge!
Well, I was stunned by the differences
in performance. With the new version,
everything is cleaner and clearer. An abundance
of detail emerges, and at the risk of
repeating myself I can say that I heard elements
I had never noticed before. I can’t say
I had been missing anything, since I hadn’t
known those sounds were there, but after
comparing this amplifier to its ancestor I
can’t settle for less.
It’s at moments like this I realize how
our hearing can refine itself with time,
making us more demanding, to make us
seek ever greater joys.
To add another word would be redundant.
—Reine Lessard
I never thought a power amplifier could
make such a difference in such unexpect-
amplifi er’s true transparency. “It doesn’t
leave anything trailing in its wake,” said
Reine. The tympany solo was breathtaking,
with the tubular bells especially
impressive.
We then put the W-5LE through
our technical evaluation, and discovered
Summing it up…
Brand/model: Simaudio Moon
W-5LE
Price: C$7800/US$6000
Dimensions: 49 x 48 x 16.5 cm
Power: 200 W/channel into 8 ohms
Most liked: Astonishing clarity, no
“solid state” character
Least liked: Is the “better” power
cord superior enough?
Verdict: In every sense a reference
CROSSTALK
ed areas. I knew this amp was better than
our reference, and I expected more of the
same quality I have been used to, with some
subtle improvements here and there. More
of an appreciation of refinement, say.
I was not prepared for this level of life
and presence. It seemed as if I had moved
to much better seats in a much better hall.
No loss of trailing sounds, no vagueness, no
blur whatsoever. Everything was precise,
clearly defined in width, height and depth.
It reminded me more of the differences
I’ve noticed with excellent preamps than
with power amps. There was a natural feel
to the music that is hard to describe, where
I found myself thinking less about amplification
and more about the beauty of the
music itself.
How do you explain hearing better contrast?
I don’t know, but I did. And I don’t
know how I could have heard more sunshine,
but it was there.
—Albert Simon
that you can blow the amplifi er’s easilyaccessible
6 ampere fuse…if you make a
wrong move with the volume control. It
isn’t easy, though, and we can’t imagine
doing it in a real-life listening situation.
There’s no spare fuse packed with the
amplifi er, though you can fi nd a fuse
that size nearly anywhere, including
garages. An electronic protection circuit
shuts down the amplifi er if there is direct
current at the input.
Though the W-5LE can easily be
driven to 200 watts and beyond, ours
clipped around 187 watts over much of
the range. At very low level, where some
gear does nasty stuff, the Simaudio
behaved fl awlessly, which made us suspect
the limit is the driver stage, not the
output. An occasional noise spike came
from our own test setup. With just the
spectral analyzer connected, the amp’s
noise was down where the trolls live.
The W-5 was an astonishing product
when its trek began. As for W-5LE
amplifi er No. 16, it has taken the place of
the original W-5 in our Omega system.
Which leaves you another 249 chances
to get your own. We’d hurry if we were
you.
I have no choice but to acknowledge
that Simaudio’s “Renaissance” circuit was
a brilliant innovation. What’s significant is
not just that it produced a wonderful first
amplifier (the W4070, originally reviewed
in UHF No. 37 a dozen years ago), but that
it continues to be used in what may be the
world’s best high-powered solid state amplifier
in 2004.
What’s truly significant about the
W-5LE is this. In the case of nearly all solid
state amplifier lines, the small amps sound
better than the big ones. Cascading extra
transistors means making the sound opaque
and a little heavy, not quite natural. That is
not true of the Moon amps, and it never has
been. The W-5 has always sounded superior
to the smaller W-3.
Even the first W-5 was one of the world’s
best big amps. That Simaudio has found
this much room to improve it is nothing
short of astonishing.
—Gerard Rejskind
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 51
Listening Room