This is my first stab at a high end system with a limited budget. The speakers were first last year, when my twenty-year old Tandy T-300's developed rather porous foam surrounds on the cones. After several months of fully enjoying musical detail I hadn't been hearing from the old faithfuls, I began to notice some deficiencies and narrowed it down to my components, which were 1991 vintage Sony ES series. An A-B comparison of my CDP-X55ES CD player against an Arcam CD-73 revealed that my Sony had a slightly incoherent bass response and some lack of resolution in the mids. I looked around, and began to notice the Moon Reference Series. Auditioning the Equinox immediately resolved my bass issue, and opened up the rest of the stage to details I hadn't imagined it could. On top of that, putting the i-5 into the system further improved the resolution and imaging, solidified the bass, and broadened and deepened the stage to a point that again I hadn't imagined could happen. Going back to the the CDP-X55ES and my GX60ES receiver was extremely disappointing - it sounded like a flat piece of cardboard in front of me, the whole sound stage just collapsed. It was in May this year that I acquired both the Equinox and i-5. Interconnect is a do it yourself kit (saved $$ and gained pride and satisfaction :), and I'm using IXOS XHS706 Gamma Geometry 13AWG speaker braid - I'm prepairing to bi-wire with an additional pair of IXOS braids. So far I'm very pleased with the result, and I guess I'll have to be until after the kids grow up, or I get lucky in the lotto... : )
SimAudio's flagship integrated, combining many of the P-5 and W-5 attributes into a small footprint, has earned numerous awards and accolades, such as Stereophile Recommended Components in 2003, HiFi+ Product of the Year in 2001 and Audio Review's Consumer Choice Award in 2000.
Homegrown Audio Silver Lace
Proprietary braided, 4-nines solid silver strand with LOK Silver Point RCA connectors.
Thanks for the words of encouragement - I rarely rush into purchases, particularly ones that use up more than their share of my expendable income... :) I was hoping that this combination of components would sound good, and indeed I haven't been disappointed, except for a slight lack of warmth. That's likely a product of the room, as I have hardwood floors, and gyproc walls in an L-shaped room with little or no sound absorption. We have no wall tapestries, no curtains hung (mini-blinds for window coverings) so those little sound waves have plenty of time to play. The size of the cabinet housing the equipment limits its placement, too, so it's not ideally located. In time, I will iron out these issues, but for now I can sit back, close my eyes and with a good recording, occasionally be there with the musicians. That's what counts!
Hey, very nice system as I would love to have the Sim's! I have heard them and they are excellent, very smooth with alot of detail! I don't really see anything you need to improve this system, unless you add vinyl to it. Great "rookie" system! Enjoy!
