The summer has marked a number of fundamental changes to my system. I switched from the Music Hall mmf-5 to the VPI Scout - this was mainly to combat the grado hum (and get into a table with more of an upgrade path). The Grado hum is often reported on the VPI deck as well... but if it is still there, it is below the noise floor (which was not the case with the mmf-5).

I also decided to venture into the world of separates and I seemed to venture pretty far indeed. My initial intent was to get the Simaudio Moon P-5 / W-5 Combo figuring it would be a nice upgrade with similar voicing to the I-5LE. However, having heard Balanced Audio Technology monoblocks this spring, I begain to wonder what it would be like to experiment with a P-5 / BAT VK-60 monoblock pairing. My hope was that the P-5 would help maintain the Simaudio/ Totem synergy while the VK-60’s would lend some liquidity to the midrange. There is a substantial improvement in the overall sound of the system. Listener fatigue is nonexistent with the VK-60’s, yet the P-5 seems to maintain some of the detail and speed that I admire Simaudio for.

At this point I only feel that minor tweaking is necessary (as it always is). For one thing I need to choose some balanced interconnects to use between the Eclipse and P-5 as well as between the P-5 and VK-60’s. Any opinions of interconnect choices and other tweaks to add/perform is always appreciated! Thanks for looking. – Luke