Oh how I wish for more reviews by Amir of more mainstream amps dacs and speakers. There are a lot of reviews of - to my eyes - obscure devices. But maybe that’s because I am from Denmark where many of the tested products are COMPLETELY unknown. Because of the geography I am unable to send equipment to Amir, but I am so baffled by his fantastic reviews that I dont dare to buy the Sim Audio Moon 340 ix amplifier or the set of Elac FS 247.3 speakers that I have on my hands - or anything else - before Amir have aknowledged it. I dont trust ANY other reviews or reviewer. That’s how bad it is with me.
-
WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
Mainstream
- Thread starter The Great
- Start date
66 SINAD according to their own specs… you can already guess how Amir would score that. Is this mainstream?
Amir measured some Elac speaker before, I think they weren’t half bad. Sadly, the number of tower speakers tested is fairly low at this point.
I think that rarely any of the reviewed products aren’t available in the EU.
UprightCitizen
Member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2024
- Messages
- 26
- Likes
- 13
There are no "mainstream" DACs. Personally I don't think you should have to buy a discrete DAC anyways. There are some AVRs reviewed. My impression, but maybe times have changed, but onkyo, pioneer, denon, marantz, yamaha etc AVRs is the mainstream for those with aspirations beyond soundbars or BT-speakers.
- Thread Starter
- #6
I prepared myself for replies like this. Luckily Amir is not arrogant and supply his findings with comments like “excellent”, “disapointing”, “above average” etc. so that we all can be a part of it all. Thanks Amir.
Like what? Replies that actually show you where you can fat the knowledge needed to understand the matter at hand?
If that is all you get from his reviews, you’re doing him (and frankly yourself) a huge disservice! The reviews are so much more than a few silly words. This is way too reductive to be of any practical use.
unpluggged
Addicted to Fun and Learning
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2023
- Messages
- 972
- Likes
- 1,216
So all you get from the "fantastic reviews" is these descriptive remarks? What about all the objective measurement data, if even the most basic concept of THD+N/SINAD seems unfamiliar to you? And still you dissatisfied and ask for "mainstream" gear reviews. But what is considered "mainstream" over there in Denmark? These? Well, it looks like not many people own them of those who can send them over to Amir, and the manufacturers themselves do not seem to be very eager to send them, either. Considering that there are some reviews and we know the results.
So as appreciative I am for the Danish design and craftsmanship, it still looks like these manufacturers care much more about marketing and margins than about technical excellence.
Again, when I stumbled upon ASR back in 2017, I immersed myself into learning, reading, and lurking. Only when I felt that I am ready to actively participate in this community did I register. I took me over five years.
- Thread Starter
- #9
I watched the tutorial you linked to and it was very educating. Thank you for that. I am trying to learn all the time. In the meantime I use amirs reviews as the only trustworthy buying guide. Maybe I Will end up an expert like you.
BTW my listening experience with the Simaudio Moon 340xi amplifier is so overwhelmingly positive that I would be in shock if Amir should give it a headless panther. But he listens as much as he measures.
BTW my listening experience with the Simaudio Moon 340xi amplifier is so overwhelmingly positive that I would be in shock if Amir should give it a headless panther. But he listens as much as he measures.
unpluggged
Addicted to Fun and Learning
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2023
- Messages
- 972
- Likes
- 1,216
This is not uncommon. I used to have an S.M.S.L. AD18 amp (a very nice package for the price, so I actually got another for my parents' desktop system) and was happy about it, until Amir reviewed it and it turned out to measure very poorly. So this is another proof that we don't notice even relatively high levels of distortion.
You are absolutely right. Human ear is very tolerant to nonlinear distortion. It is artificially created hype that one needs those incredible SINAD numbers. No one can hear it with music in a level matched DBT.
That is a 2-way street. This also means that those rave reviews are nonsense.
I’m sure the amp will sound fine, but it’s not a stellar performance by any metric, so Amir would not have given in a recommendation. Note that a big part of these recommendations is based on engineering excellence, most of which do not translate to better sound. And I’m sure @pma will point out next, that these measurements are still lacking in some departments to come to a full conclusion on the technical capabilities of these products.
Here are some measurements of the non-x version of the amps:
Moon by Simaudio Neo 340i integrated amplifier Measurements
Sidebar 3: Measurements
www.stereophile.com
If the x version is similar it would end up somewhere on the right of the middle in the SINAD charts. It’s probably not the end of the world, but for an amplifier costing € 4600,- I would expect much better.
Last edited:
Similar threads
