Sim I7 / Spire update

[Mantana]

It's been almost 2 months since i bought an immaculate, barely
used, Simaudio I7 integrated to replace my Musical Fidelity A5
250w integrated. This was a last gasp effort to pair my Spires
with a high quality amp to hopefully eliminate the subtle
harshness or edginess i experienced with the MF. Otherwise,
the Spires had to go. ....well i can finally say i'm
enjoying the Spires like i never did before. I always liked
their clarity and transparency, but they fatigued me after
a week or so. Glad to say i haven't experienced any fatigue,
just good music. In fact, i now have my Montanas up for
sale along with the Musical Fidelity. The main reason i bought
the Spires was to get a smaller footprint and a much lighter
speaker (the Montanas are heavy beasts), but also to get
equivalent or better sound. As you probably know, I
love the Montana sound, but now i feel i can live
comfortably with the Logans, enjoy their virtues, and
go with my original plan of lean and mean.

As for the Sim...a very nice amp, though not quite as
lively as the MF. The A5 may not be the most refined
amp, but to it's credit, it has an unforced quality where
the music seems to pour out of your speakers...very
lively. The Sim is very smooth, extracts a little
more detail, but there appears to be an extra
layer of filtering to get that overall
smoothness. The Sim has gotten better in
this area than when i 1st fired it up. It only had about
75 hours when i bought it, now maybe around 125.
It works very well with the Spires and has plenty of
power for my needs.

So, i'm through spending money on stereo (for a while).
Next goal, get to the bare essentials and sell my extra
equipment.

 

[Victor]

Hi Mantana,
Pleased to hear that the Moon I-7 has really grown on you. Next month I will have clocked 3 years with the ML Vantage/Moon partnership - and without wishing to sound like an advertisement, I never tire of the valve-like qualities of this SS amp.

I think MLs play to this amplifier's strengths by not being too demanding in the bass region thanks to MLs active subs. This has the effect of taking a good amp and making it even better.

Happy listening, have a great festive break...
:music: ...............Victor

 

[FISH_MAN]

after all that ? you are gonna stick with the spires.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Hi Fish,

Perhaps Mantana now has a better understanding of the term "musicality".

No slam intended. Just an observation.

I'm glad you are happy with the synergy.

GG

 

[Mantana]

after all that ? you are gonna stick with the spires.

I always wanted to "like" the Spires...i love their looks and size.
Just couldn't live with the MF combo. I tried 3 amps and
the 3rd time worked.

No mystery to "musicality" ....the Spire always sounded
musical to me, but previously it was edgy, now it's not.

My decision to keep the Spires is simply the elimination of that
edginess. I don't think they are a better speaker than the
Montanas, just different. Each has it's own strengths and
if the Montanas sell, i will miss them, but now i can go "light"
and be happy with the Spires. I have my house up for
sale and really don't want to lug the Montanas around. Not
sure if i'll have to rent before buying a new place.

 

[David Matz]

Mantana,

Good to hear the Spires are working out. They may be the best deal in high end audio. I know you like your integrated amp. However, if opportunity allows, do try them with some separates to reveal more of their potential. The better the amp, the better they will sound.

Enjoy!

 

[MOON]

Mantana,

Good to hear the Spires are working out. They may be the best deal in high end audio. I know you like your integrated amp. However, if opportunity allows, do try them with some separates to reveal more of their potential. The better the amp, the better they will sound.

I agree with David on this point. If you get the chance , try some Simaudio evolution separates down the road.
Cheers, Greg

 

[Mantana]

Mantana,

Good to hear the Spires are working out. They may be the best deal in high end audio. I know you like your integrated amp. However, if opportunity allows, do try them with some separates to reveal more of their potential. The better the amp, the better they will sound.

I agree with David on this point. If you get the chance , try some Simaudio evolution separates down the road.
Cheers, Greg

Seems like a $7500 integrated amp should be quite enough,
but i would like to hear a tube integrated with the Spires. Don't
see too many high powered tube amps though. I'm just
not a separates guy...1 box is enough.

The Sim's a great amp but there is a slight veiling or reticence
as i mentioned, in comparison to the MF. It outperforms in all
areas except that one area. Surprising since it costs three
times as much. The Sim extracts more detail, has beautiful
harmonics, but the MF seems more "live" at times. With the
MF and the Spire, it's too aggressive & too "in your face" for
long term listening. I've been listening to the Sim for about 5
weeks straight with the Spires and haven't experienced any
fatigue. I couldn't do that with the MF, so i'm definitely
happier than before, but on some recordings i miss the jump
factor of the MF. The trade off is the sweeter harmonics and
extra detail. Now that i've found the harshness was in the amp
and not a characteristic of the speakers, i'm open to a
little more experimentation.
I doubt i'll sell the Sim anytime soon, though...i'm pretty
satisfied with it so far. I've had some very pleasing moments
kicking back with a buzz and enjoying the music. The new
Beatle remasters sound terrific with the Sim (particularly
the 1st six albums)... nice and lively, clear and detailed...
very pleasing.

 

[wings]

Spires

I don't know how you are connecting the speaker cables...Bi-wired or into the bass and jumped to tweeter or into tweeter and jumped to bass.
It will make a difference !
I use pure copper strips that I made up from 20 amp flat copper cable, others on this site use similiar or other better jumpers than the supplied ones.

If you can't find any local, PM me.

 

[Mantana]

I don't know how you are connecting the speaker cables...Bi-wired or into the bass and jumped to tweeter or into tweeter and jumped to bass.
It will make a difference !
I use pure copper strips that I made up from 20 amp flat copper cable, others on this site use similiar or other better jumpers than the supplied ones.

If you can't find any local, PM me.

I don't use the jumpers...

i have some Audioquest Bedrock bi-wired cable i bought from Audio
Advisor. I connect bass leads on cable to bass on Spires, tweeter
leads to tweeter.

I also have a pair of cables from Audio Magic that are single
wired. I used the supplied ML jumpers with those when i
tried them. They're only 12 ft length so i always use the
Audioquest since they're 15'....i can swap easier between the
Spires and Montanas with the longer cables.