It was a good year for apples here in Virginia, and I visited Dickie Brothers’ Orchard in Roseland, Va, twice. Once for Honeycrisp and again later in the fall for Fuji.
Honeycrisp are sweet, and as the name implies, crisp providing a snap and then a flood of sweet juice with each bite.
Fuji’s, at least for this year’s crop, are not quite as sweet or crisp but still juicy. They are not as soft or mushy as a Red Delicious but definitely not as crisp as the Honeycrisp. They are not tart like a Granny Smith, but not as sweet as a Honeycrisp. They offend no one, they are polite, gentile. They taste best with a little cinnamon, baking spice or even lemon juice “sprinkled” on top.
I mention these varieties as a parallel to amplifiers. Some like the warmth and smoothness of a tube amp, and others the more analytical sound of a solid state. Neither are incorrect, but different presentations of the basic “fruit.”
So, over the last month I have been comparing two amps: the D’Agostino Momentum MvX S250 (stereo amp) and the Simaundio Moon North Collection 861 (played in stereo mode). It turns out one is a Fuji and the other a Honeycrisp (fortunately neither are Granny Smiths).
It is important to note the components of my system as they certainly influence the amps’ presentation. My preamp is a VAC Master which has two tubes in its design. The DAC is a dCS Rossini. The speakers are Sonus Faber Il Cremonese. The cables are all Shunyatas with Sigma power cords, Omega interconnects and speaker cables. The power cords are plugged into a Shunyata Everest which is connected to a dedicated 20A circuit via.an Omega power cord.
I listen to classical and jazz with an occasional “pop” album such as music from Broadway or Il Viva, Carpenters, Kenny Rogers. But 95% of my listening is classical.
The 861 is the Honeycrisp. It is articulate (crisp), but not clinical or overly analytical. The sound stage is broad and particularly deep. The musicians are clearly positioned. The tonal accuracy of strings, horns, brass is excellent (the sweetness). The presentation is “forward” in that you are sitting in the first 5 rows of Orchestra or at the first table in a jazz venue (the flavor is full and “bold”). The characteristics of the venue are quite obvious.
The bass of the 861 is clean, well defined, impactful, whether tympani, bass drum, organ or double bass. It won’t literally vibrate your stomach, but you can distinguish the musician’s technique and the different sounds the instrument can produce.
The pedal notes of the organ resonate and allow my speakers to produce bass tones I did not previously believe possible. In some recordings, In a cathedral, the pipes are stretched across the sound stage as in situ, and even the smallest, highest pipe is clearly discernible, even with a background “rumble” from the largest pipes. The pedal notes of the organ are guttural, visceral as they should be and you can hear the air pulsating in the pipes.
Treble is delicate, but not thin. The resonance of string instruments is evident.
On pieces such as those by Carolyn Shaw where violins and cellos are made to create every conceivable sound allowed by the instrument’s construction, the 861 faithfully reproduces the nuances, the character she demands.
Piccolos and flutes “float” or soar as the score demands, light, vibrant, dancing when freed to do so by the composer.
Percussion lives up to its name, and every “hit” in such tracks as Brubeck’s “Far More Drums” or Blakey’s Drum Suite is clearly enunciated leaving me to wonder just how does a human move that rapidly. The tympani is resonant with that roundness that differentiates it from a “bass drum”; it has an actual note not just a sound.
French horns have their mellowness, trumpets their brassiness, jazz trombones have, well, the “sliding” character that makes them distinct.
The DAG is the Fuji. It is articulate, certainly not in the least mushy or soft (analogous to a red delicious). It is definitely not clinical (“tart” like a Granny Smith). In comparison to the 861, the DAG has less space between the musicians, and their positions are less well defined. The sound stage is as wide, but not as deep. You are sitting in the 20th row, or perhaps first row mezzanine/balcony, or in the middle of a jazz venue. Compared to the 861, the flavor is more “refined”, not as intense just like the Fuji apples were this year.
This is not to say that the DAG’s presentation is not well defined, but it seems to be less so compared to the 861 perhaps because of its relatively polite presentation. It is not as “exciting” nor does it have the same degree of impact. It is definitely the milder Fuji rather than the bolder HoneyCrisp. Neither amp will startle you or pucker your lips like a Granny Smith.
The soundstage produced by the 861 is wider, much deeper, and the placement of the musicians is incredibly more precise than the DAG. You can easily distinguish each section of the orchestra or each instrument in a trio, quartet, etc. If the horns are playing a chord, you can hear the chord per se and (if you so desire) the individual component notes. In comparison to the DAG, the 861’s presentation is fuller, more cohesive in that the sound links and integrates the individual musicians/instruments. There is no hint of blurriness, haze, vail, muddiness in the 861 which I occasionally noticed in orchestral pieces with the DAG. I want to say that the 861’s sound is “thick”, but that alas has the wrong connotation; so I settle for “full.”
The 861 is the sweetest, crispest Honeycrisp in the orchard. Big, extremely juicy, sweet but not syrupy. It is not fatiguing, not overly analytical. You can and want to have as many apples as you can pick and eat. You enjoy the DAG’s apples, but after a few, you get bored or the taste just seems to fade to bland and you stop eating; not from auditory fatigue, just complacency.
To be honest, these results were unexpected. I admit that I expected the twice as expensive DAG to clearly surpass the 861, after all we typically expect a higher priced item to perform better. Yet, this was not the case. They were different presentations: the 861 in jeans or at most a sport coat (no tie) and the DAG in its suit and more likely a tux. In the end, I found myself listening to the 861 in preference to the DAG; I heard “more”, found myself more engaged and definitely succumbing to air conducting or singing along.
I just sold my DAG and got the 861.
PS: I also connected the Rossini directly to the amps bypassing the VAC preamp. The auditory presentation was essentially the same. The VAC did add a slight “fullness” in the mid range and perhaps just the very slightest warmth.
Honeycrisp are sweet, and as the name implies, crisp providing a snap and then a flood of sweet juice with each bite.
Fuji’s, at least for this year’s crop, are not quite as sweet or crisp but still juicy. They are not as soft or mushy as a Red Delicious but definitely not as crisp as the Honeycrisp. They are not tart like a Granny Smith, but not as sweet as a Honeycrisp. They offend no one, they are polite, gentile. They taste best with a little cinnamon, baking spice or even lemon juice “sprinkled” on top.
I mention these varieties as a parallel to amplifiers. Some like the warmth and smoothness of a tube amp, and others the more analytical sound of a solid state. Neither are incorrect, but different presentations of the basic “fruit.”
So, over the last month I have been comparing two amps: the D’Agostino Momentum MvX S250 (stereo amp) and the Simaundio Moon North Collection 861 (played in stereo mode). It turns out one is a Fuji and the other a Honeycrisp (fortunately neither are Granny Smiths).
It is important to note the components of my system as they certainly influence the amps’ presentation. My preamp is a VAC Master which has two tubes in its design. The DAC is a dCS Rossini. The speakers are Sonus Faber Il Cremonese. The cables are all Shunyatas with Sigma power cords, Omega interconnects and speaker cables. The power cords are plugged into a Shunyata Everest which is connected to a dedicated 20A circuit via.an Omega power cord.
I listen to classical and jazz with an occasional “pop” album such as music from Broadway or Il Viva, Carpenters, Kenny Rogers. But 95% of my listening is classical.
The 861 is the Honeycrisp. It is articulate (crisp), but not clinical or overly analytical. The sound stage is broad and particularly deep. The musicians are clearly positioned. The tonal accuracy of strings, horns, brass is excellent (the sweetness). The presentation is “forward” in that you are sitting in the first 5 rows of Orchestra or at the first table in a jazz venue (the flavor is full and “bold”). The characteristics of the venue are quite obvious.
The bass of the 861 is clean, well defined, impactful, whether tympani, bass drum, organ or double bass. It won’t literally vibrate your stomach, but you can distinguish the musician’s technique and the different sounds the instrument can produce.
The pedal notes of the organ resonate and allow my speakers to produce bass tones I did not previously believe possible. In some recordings, In a cathedral, the pipes are stretched across the sound stage as in situ, and even the smallest, highest pipe is clearly discernible, even with a background “rumble” from the largest pipes. The pedal notes of the organ are guttural, visceral as they should be and you can hear the air pulsating in the pipes.
Treble is delicate, but not thin. The resonance of string instruments is evident.
On pieces such as those by Carolyn Shaw where violins and cellos are made to create every conceivable sound allowed by the instrument’s construction, the 861 faithfully reproduces the nuances, the character she demands.
Piccolos and flutes “float” or soar as the score demands, light, vibrant, dancing when freed to do so by the composer.
Percussion lives up to its name, and every “hit” in such tracks as Brubeck’s “Far More Drums” or Blakey’s Drum Suite is clearly enunciated leaving me to wonder just how does a human move that rapidly. The tympani is resonant with that roundness that differentiates it from a “bass drum”; it has an actual note not just a sound.
French horns have their mellowness, trumpets their brassiness, jazz trombones have, well, the “sliding” character that makes them distinct.
The DAG is the Fuji. It is articulate, certainly not in the least mushy or soft (analogous to a red delicious). It is definitely not clinical (“tart” like a Granny Smith). In comparison to the 861, the DAG has less space between the musicians, and their positions are less well defined. The sound stage is as wide, but not as deep. You are sitting in the 20th row, or perhaps first row mezzanine/balcony, or in the middle of a jazz venue. Compared to the 861, the flavor is more “refined”, not as intense just like the Fuji apples were this year.
This is not to say that the DAG’s presentation is not well defined, but it seems to be less so compared to the 861 perhaps because of its relatively polite presentation. It is not as “exciting” nor does it have the same degree of impact. It is definitely the milder Fuji rather than the bolder HoneyCrisp. Neither amp will startle you or pucker your lips like a Granny Smith.
The soundstage produced by the 861 is wider, much deeper, and the placement of the musicians is incredibly more precise than the DAG. You can easily distinguish each section of the orchestra or each instrument in a trio, quartet, etc. If the horns are playing a chord, you can hear the chord per se and (if you so desire) the individual component notes. In comparison to the DAG, the 861’s presentation is fuller, more cohesive in that the sound links and integrates the individual musicians/instruments. There is no hint of blurriness, haze, vail, muddiness in the 861 which I occasionally noticed in orchestral pieces with the DAG. I want to say that the 861’s sound is “thick”, but that alas has the wrong connotation; so I settle for “full.”
The 861 is the sweetest, crispest Honeycrisp in the orchard. Big, extremely juicy, sweet but not syrupy. It is not fatiguing, not overly analytical. You can and want to have as many apples as you can pick and eat. You enjoy the DAG’s apples, but after a few, you get bored or the taste just seems to fade to bland and you stop eating; not from auditory fatigue, just complacency.
To be honest, these results were unexpected. I admit that I expected the twice as expensive DAG to clearly surpass the 861, after all we typically expect a higher priced item to perform better. Yet, this was not the case. They were different presentations: the 861 in jeans or at most a sport coat (no tie) and the DAG in its suit and more likely a tux. In the end, I found myself listening to the 861 in preference to the DAG; I heard “more”, found myself more engaged and definitely succumbing to air conducting or singing along.
I just sold my DAG and got the 861.
PS: I also connected the Rossini directly to the amps bypassing the VAC preamp. The auditory presentation was essentially the same. The VAC did add a slight “fullness” in the mid range and perhaps just the very slightest warmth.
