Man, what a great, great, astounding piece of stereo art this is. I started with a black P5 and then bought an LE, which, I believe, are all kind of a pewter, pearl sort of thing going on... beautiful! You just look at it and you realize "this is a nice piece of equipment." You know, canucks just build a lot of really incredible gear up there and I can't help but be superbly proud of these cats. Classe, Simaudio, Bryston -- these guys can read a schematic I mean to tell you.

But back to the P5 LE: It's my holy grail. I don't need no FM Acoustics or Kondo. This P5LE is the last preamp I'll ever buy. Its near-zero-feedback design, its rugged, beautiful construction, its, my god, its sound. It's just astounding. Now the LE is almost identical to the P5 except for no black with the LE, where the standard is either pearlescent or black. Also there's a beefed up power supply, as with all the LE Moons, and I guess it's got a hotrodded power cord from Cardas, which I begrudgingly refrain from slamming as Sim seems to endorse them. I got rid of my Cardas power cord and greatly enjoy an MIT Zchord II.

Yup, I shan't belabor the point. This beautiful little pre has all the goods. Clear, resplendent, SUPER high fidelity sound that I just love. It's just....... open, unfussed, natural sound that I can literally spend hours listening to blissfully. ( I sold my Glock 9 as I now have the P5 remote with which to nail any unfortunate intruder.) The XLR connections are DEAD silent. Dead. silent. The muffled tick of a quartz wallclock is all I hear between cuts. I love tubes, but you know, they're too hot and too fussy -- replacing 'em, matching them -- it's just too tiresome. In any case the tube/SS debate is over for me, for, as I say, I've bought my last preamp.

If funds ever permit, I'll upgrade to a pair of W10 monos and the Eclipse LE CD toploader, but with this sound I'm in no rush whatsoever.

My system? I've got a lot of canuck gear for a simple reason: they rock. I've got a Classe CD-1 drawer loader that rivals the finest, Virtual Dynamics Revelation XLRs and single-run speaker cables to a pair of Thiel 7.2s. A dear old Linn Sondek and a Sansui TU-9900 tuner. And a jillion LPs. Oh! Classe CA-400 power house running in stereo mode into the four ohm Thiels. Pleased as I am with the associated gear, my intention is to upgrade to all Simaudio Moon gear, as the P5 recommends daily. I'd even give up the Sansui for a Simaudio Air.

I hope you get the chance to give a P5, better still LE, a thorough listening. I dare say you'll agree. And to the bozos that have rated it a three and a two! I can only quote Charles Lutwig Dodgeson (Lewis Carrol) "Those serpents -- there's no pleasing them."

This Person Mazher JAFFAR Is full Of Sh!t. Go http://www.simaudio.com/reviews/tier_p-5.htm or any other professional review and they will say different. He says he used a Bryston amp. Well Iv heard It on a Bryston 4bsst and It sounded amazing.

As the review goes on In review vol #10

"There is a sonic signature and it's lean and mean, since it unmercifully reveals all backup components and their characteristics. As such, the Moon "showed off" the exquisite sound of the Topaz, the dynamics of the Bryston 8B-ST, the bass of the Lightstar and the finesse and power of the OCM1600s. It also conjured a multi-dimensional sound- stage, authentic focal information and what appears to be celerity. Low-level information comes across as realistically as fortissimos and trios sound as coherent as large orchestras; what else is there to say?

Id say that Mazher JAFFAR has a problem with another component. It sure isnt the P-5. But don't take my word for It, go listen to any Simaudio Product yourself and you be the judge.

As above.

None, although it should be noted that additional rack space is required for the ouboard power supplies of the P-5 LE and Eclipse LE CD player.

This review is for the P-5 LE (Limited Edition) preamplifier. I recently purchased the fully balanced 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>)

Similar Products Used:

As above.

Everything. It does not lack. You can almost see the layers. Detail, detail, and more detail! Pinpoint accuracy on ALL the instruments and singers. Incredible soundstage, witdth and depth. Any type of music that you play from Heavy Metal to Mozart, the P-5 knows how to deliver.

The cord from the power unit supply could be longer so you could put it on the floor.

The search is over! The P-5 went way beyond my expectations. I have had enough preamps to open a mid sized audio store! The last pre I had before purchasing the P-5 was the Classe' DR6 which is one of the better units around. I have placed many preamps against the Classe' and the Classe' has always stayed. The P-5 made the Classe' sound like an amature. Absolute tremendous soundstage that covers my whole wall with a depth that extends well behind and into my living room. Layer after layer of sound. Detail from crystal clear highs that keep your glued in your seat for hours. Lush voices with personality that makes the singers come to life. Instruments that float all around your living room. You can see how the musicians are positioned in the soundstage! I have always heard this kind of description and have lusted to have this type of sound. The P-5 has brought this into being, after years of changing components and jerking around with cables and wires. This unit breathes live into the music and makes it an absolute joy to listen to. I have revived all my cds and I sit and listen to music until 3 or 4 in the morning. I have owned Krell, Levinson, Proceed, Audio Research, Plinius, Jeff Rowland, Conrad Johnson, and they have not produced any sound like the P-5! I can finally sit and listen to the music instead of sitting and critizing what it should sound like. Every cd that I have played has an enjoyable sweetness to it. If you want pure sweet music without all the analytical BS, find yourself a P-5 and you will not look back! When I first listened to it, it had a bit of harshness in the high end which was gone the next day. I let it play all day and at night when I was ready to listen to the music the harshness had disappeared. Thank you Victor Sima for bringing some joy to my life. "If you want to find the truth in life, don't pass music by". Eric Burdon

Similar Products Used:

Krell, Rowland, Conrad, Classe', Audio Research, Plinius, Mark Levinson, Proceed.

Extremely detailed sound and solid construction.

Could use more balanced inputs.

Excellent soundstage and crisp detail. There is a slight dryness on the low bass, but not enough to worry about. There is definitely a synergy between this pre and certain amps like the McCormack DNA125.

Similar Products Used:

McCormack, Sansui, Sony, Madrigal products

Beautiful looking, sounds great and very versatile. Can be used as an amplifier or a pre-amplifier.

Non yet!

I took home a used SimAudio Moon I-5 integrated amp the other night for auditioning. $2100, 9 ½ years left on the ten year warranty, mint condition. List price - new : $3200 (Canadian)

I have to say, I started to like this amp when I hooked it up to my PSB Stratus Goldi's, but there was something missing. Very quick, detailed and musical but something definitely missing. It just didn't quite have the presence or impact that I expected. Oh well, what can you expect? After all, it's a 70 watt integrated amp (110 watts to my 4 ohm PSBs). Still, it sounded very good, probably the best integrated amp I have ever heard.

Now usually, whenever I am unsatisfied with the sound of my audio system, I go into tweak mode. You know the drill, change the interconnects, move the speakers, go back to single wire as opposed to bi-wire, etc. Earlier, I had noticed that there was a pre-out connection on the back of the unit, so I decided to hook up my 20 year old bridged Crown D150A amps to the I-5.

This is where I fell in love with the Moon as a pre-amp. Just beautiful. The clarity and control of the Moon coupled with the power of the Crowns is a match that I could definitely live with until the time comes when I am ready to upgrade my amplifier(s). I figure that I am either going to buy this unit or the Moon Series P-3 or P-5 Preamplifier (depending on price). If either of these pre-amps sound as good as the I-5, I'm sold.

November 10, 1999 - Update!
Well, I bought the I-5, but before I plunked down the cash, I auditioned the SimAudio Moon P-3 pre-amplifier at home. I still thought the I-5 was a better choice for me at this point in time. It just seemed to do a better job of taming my Crown amps.

Very happy with this integrated amp.

Similar Products Used:

SimAudio Moon P-3, Bryston BP.4, Crown IC150

4.5 of 5 stars, Stereophile class A(Vol.22 No.3)

Review to follow when I get time.

Hello,
It is a sad day in Audio Review History. Check out Tim in the previous post. He rants and raves how terrible the P-5 is once he gets it home. Although it sounded great at the dealer. What dealer?

Now check this out:
Tim leaves his pathetic post at 2/5/01 2:17:34 PM (P-5)

Ten minutes previous on the Moon W-5(amplifier)

Joe leaves a very similar post at 2/5/01 2:08:20 PM (W-5)


There is little to zero chance that this is a coincidence. Some idiot is out to leave his two cents worth. He must be caught up in one of those Ford Vs. Chevy type fueds. Hey buddy, Leave the reviews up to people who have actually tried or own this stuff.

If your considering giving the Sim P-5 a listen. Try not to be swayed by idiots out to sabatage this site.

Peace!!!!!!!!

High quility

very few stores carry Sim

So many complaints about the service with Sim, and very few stores that carry there products. I quess they are like a Corvet, you have to drive one to appreciate one. You can still email me for any sim product, I will put you in contact with a Canadian shipper who will ship anywhere, like PSB speakers, Energy speakers, they are all made here in Canada, whichs means no Duty or GST and that great exchange rate of 40% or more, so if you realy want to save money on any of these products, email me!

Very dynamic, quiet back ground great sound stage and I notice I can enjoy all types of music which I coudln't on all the audio gear that I had in the past, And let me say a lot of audio gear in the past. This guy named Rahul that wrote a poor review on the p5 although he has his opinion, There is no comparison to Sonic Frontiers and sim audio, I can say that most tube gear is trying so hard to be stable like solid state amps. And sonic frontiers sounds like solid state gear. Through the years of experince that in my opinion there is no way sonic frontiers comes close to Sim auio produts. Sonic Frontiers reliablity is horrible, I had an Anthem 1 amp and burned up on me 3 times and there atitude was very poor, the easy out was blaming the tubes instead of there circut design. I also had the pre 1 and it had bad Rfi problems also. And the pre1 the older series preamp. And when I went to this audio store in New Jersey all I saw was Sonic Frontiers equimpment on the side of the wall for service. Well so much for sonic Frontiers. The Sim audio p5 is the on of the best musical preamps money can buy.

Burn in time very long takes a month to judge this unit. It just gets better evry time. Well maybe Rahul didn't give enough of his time to break the unit in. And needs to check out whats making his system sound so bad.

This preamp needs some real time to break in, If you dont believe in break in time then your just fooling yourself. This preamps characteristic are different when not broken in..heres how it sounds not broken in, the base is not at its best when not broken in its not natural and defined, Its a little loose, but dont get scared cause its gone after its all done of breaking in. On most stereos that I had they couln't get piano right and clashes of simbles clean and real, That has to be the hardest thing for any stereo to perform and this preamp corrected this problem with my system, And my system now is the Sim audio w3 amp with the p5 pre. and the naim 3.5 cd player with the flat cap power supply. And sim out performs Krell by a long lead. Go read my review on the Sim audio inter graded amp the I5080. Im not here to bash products its simply the truth of my opinion on how I feel with most products out there. Sim audio is an out standing produt. The only thing that I had a problem with was there remote that freak out on me, the commands weren't responding the way it should have, but sim is sending me another one. Thanks Sim for a great product.

Similar Products Used:

Krell fpb 300 ,KRC 3 pre amp, Sim audio w3amp,Soliloquy 5. 3 speakers and Gershman Acoustic Avant Garde speakers rx20 and sound dynamics rtc 3 speakers. Naim 3.5 cd player with flat cap power supply and Monster cable sigma retro cables all around, great cable too.

this is a very good soundding unit ;3d