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Review 1 of 15
Price Paid:
$0.00
from Archive Audio, Ohio Summary:
This review is for the Simaudio Moon Eclipse LE (Limited Editon) CD player. I recently purchased the fully balanced, fully differential Simaudio Moon LE system From Archive Audio, including the W-5 LE dual-mono amplifier; Eclipse LE CD player; and P-5 LE preamplifier. Speakers: Induction Dynamics ID1. Cables: Signal Cable Silver Resolution balanced interconnects, and a "double run" set of Signal Cable Silver Resolution speaker cables.
Prior to discovering the Moon LE gear, I was seriously considering vacuum tube gear. However, upon hearing the Moon LE products I immediately fell in love. The reference grade, fully balanced, fully differential Moon LE components sound neither like tubes nor solid-state. It is so transparent as to have no sound of its own-- it sounds better than "solid state" and better than "tubes". Simply put, it just sounds RIGHT.
Imaging and soundstaging are precise, natural, and stable. The attack and DECAY of musical notes is as good or better than many tube designs. In addition, the P-5 LE and associated LE gear (along with the Signal Cable Silver Resolution cables) reveal a level of sonic detail through the Induction Dynamics ID1's that one might normally expect only from electrostatic headphones.
The fully balanced Moon LE gear is completely free of any hint of solid state edginess, grain, hardness, brightness, sibilance, etc. Rather, the sound of this reference gear is perhaps best described as fast and accurate, yet smooth and full-bodied, never fatiguing. Indeed, this gear is highly inviting, and I find it hard to get to bed on time these days!
Driving the Induction Dynamics ID1's, bass extension is concert-like and extremely articulate. Mid-range? Total bliss. Upper registers? Extraordinarily detailed, delicate, and graceful.
Construction, build-quality, appearance, and the "feel" of the controls (etc.) is reference grade. These products are overbuilt to very high tolerances. Completing the warranty registration entitles the original owner to a full, 10 year warranty.
I've previously auditioned a variety of high-end electronics, most noteably Spectral and Edge; as well as Audio Research, VTL, Rogue, Bryston, and McCormack. Among all of these, the Moon LE gear sounded the best to my ears. (My second choice would be Spectral, although this gear can tend to sound over-analytical and "clinical" at times.)
It is a fairly common practice among many audiophiles to spend a considerable amount of time and money extensively experimenting with the mixing-and-matching of a variety of components from different manufacturers, searching and hoping for optimal system "synergy". That said, I would note that the sonic performance of the fully balanced, fully differential Moon LE *system* delivers the full measure of seamless "intra-system" synergy that its designers intended. In terms of sonic and technical performance, the sum is seemingly greater than its parts.
A few comments on the Eclipse LE CD player: If you're looking for a truly high-end, reference level ("Redbook") CD player to rival (or even "eclipse") a laborious and fastidious analog front-end (along with noisy LPs), the new Simaudio Moon Eclipse LE CD player deserves your serious consideration.
I happen to be an audiophile who quite joyfully abandoned vinyl and embraced CDs early on. Back then, I simply could no longer tolerate, nor continue trying to ignore, the infuriating, god-awful, and highly distracting surface noise inherent in most LPs; not to mention the many other annoyances and quirks of vinyl, let alone trying unsuccessfully to remove or at least lessen the aggravations of vinyl playback. When I switched to Cds, I soon became ever more aware of what Harry Pearson coined as the "digititis" of early CDs and CD players, but I still preferred the sonic trade-offs and convenience of CDs.
It is now almost 20 years later, and it's only just recently that I fortuitously discovered (through Bob Kirk of Archive Audio) the Moon Eclipse LE CD player. Here at last is a reference quality (yet moderately priced), fully balanced and fully differential (state-of-the-art) CD player, that sounds simply gorgeous and RIGHT.
In comparison to the original Moon Eclipse CD player (which was highly regarded in its own right), the new Eclipse LE CD player is an extensively re-engineered, fully balanced/fully differential, reference CD player. Gone is the previous HDCD foibles of its predecessors.
The Eclipse LE's many design innovations include a massive, enhanced, cutomized OUTBOARD power supply; an improved analog section; lower noise floor; greater dynamic range; as well as an internal upsampling rate with 24-bit/352.8kHz processing.
In my opinion, the Eclipse LE's 24-bit/352.8kHz processing (along with its other innovations) reproduces not only the best digital recordings in their best light; but also greatly improves and refines even the poorer examples of Redbook CD recordings. Strengths:
As above. Weaknesses:
None. However, it should be noted that the Eclipse LE's outboard power supply requires additional rack space. Also, the Eclipse LE's top-loading CD drive includes a circular, weighted, magnetic disk clamp which fits over a center spindle. It may take some time and practice in order to precisely center and seat the disk clamp over the spindle in order to properly apply the clamp before a CD can be played. In other words, the Eclipse LE does not have a simple CD "drawer" that you just drop the CD onto, press "close" or "play" and just forget about it. You must deal with having to carefully apply and remove the Eclipse's heavy little CD clamp; accidently dropping this metal clamp into the Eclipse's top-loading CD drive-bay could prove problematic, so be careful! Similar Products Used:
CD players I've also auditioned: Arcam, Spectral, Levinson, DCS, Sony, Marantz, Theta, Rega, NAD, Simaudio Moon Nova LE. (For the money, the Moon Nova LE is the next best alternative to the Eclipse LE!)
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