Verdict
you may grease one’s palms amps that do more than the 641 but , used to its strengths , very few rivals can touch the even - handed melodious glare on display here .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Moon 641 is the flagship incorporate amplifier in the company ’s range and the only incorporate A in the company’sNorth Collection of constituent . This chain represents everything that the company experience about have audio equipment and accept their design philosophy and nonsuch and refine them to their ultimate conclusion .
On paper at least , the specification that the Moon 641 pass is good … but not salient . It does n’t offer the sort of output that allows it to double as a welder and there are more extravagantly equip rivals vying for your attention .
This is not about Moon playing a numbers racket game . Instead the idea is that you sit down to heed to them and are won over by the entire experience that they engender . It ’s a sheer strategy when consider that price but Moon has a formidable reputation so if anyone can do it , they can .
Availability
The Moon 641 adenosine monophosphate monetary value £ 11,000 . As you might anticipate , it is the conserves of specialist dealers able to support and demonstrate devices of this nature . It is distributed pretty equally across the UK so , while you might not have an mercantile establishment for a 641 on your local high street , neither should you have to make a holiday of it to get a listen .
Simaudio is a Canadian society and palm its own sale in North America which mean that the 641 has a dollar bill to quid parity in their pricing because there is an extra stratum of ( very professional ) distribution in the UK . The company has statistical distribution in Australia where the 641 can be purchase for AUD$19,000 .
As you might expect , the high - final stage bristle with competition to these whole and while the stipulation of the 641 is telling in an technology sentience , you could buy integrated amplifiers that offer up a wider bed cover of functionality than this if you wish to .
Design
The North Collection consume styling pool stick from more mundanely priced Moon product and proceeds to use them in the creation of a reach of constituent that feel pretty extra , even when you take their asking price into account .
There are object that have been shot into space , taken a trip to the ocean depths or that we rely on for national security purposes that are not as solidly bolt together as the 641 is .
Everything feels like it has been assembled as well as it can be done rather than the best it can be done for a given cost point . The casework incorporate both dark and silver elements in a way that means they calculate splendid when you go all in but , interestingly , will also sit happily in a system otherwise made of one of those two coloration . You do n’t have to have sex anything about the sound diligence to know that this is a premium second of kit .
The intention also hint at the fact that this is not a completely minimalist gimmick either . At the front you ’ll find a large color display that demo what the amp is up to ( and , choose my parole carefully , can be read by the variety of soul at an old age where they might drop 11 K on an A ) .
This express volume and input on the ampere as well as set aside for mise en scene to be adjusted . These scene stretch to conform the display background which you ’ll need to do as the apparent smuggled face far posh than the option with the circle board overlayer .
Mention must be made of the remote control too . It ’s called the BRM-1 and it ’s a thing of cracking comeliness . When you mate it with the 641 it gives feedback on volume and input on a modest display and is largely adjusted by a attractively weighted circular cuff that mimics the feel of the equally fastidious volume control on the A itself .
It do most supplied remote French telephone feel like toys and control that some of the quality flavour of the Moon 641 makes it back to the listening location .
Features
The 641 amplifier is a comparatively bare gadget , but this is stringently in a functionality sense rather than plan one . This a melody level integrated amplifier that offers a individual balanced input and four RCA connective . There is a line spirit level output and a pair of staggeringly solid speaker terminals and that is basically your wad .
This might seem parsimonious ; the 641 does less in a features gumption than the company ’s most affordable integrated amplifier , but it reflect that the manner Moon divides responsibility across its products is to have digital root do the expectant lifting and countenance the ampere be an A .
And , make no mistake , the tumid casework is absolutely chock full of amplifier . The 641 has two prominent toroidal power provision , one for each line and the whole adenosine monophosphate is laid out in a dual mono configuration to ensure that XT is kept to a lower limit ( which is why the input board has the slightly strange layout it has too ) .
It also uses a system holler MDCA ( MOON Distortion - Cancelling Amplifier ) to avoid feature to use any physique of feedback circle which control that the deliberate performance is very good indeed . The 125 - watt production into 8 Ohm does n’t voice huge but it doubles into 4 ohms and the 641 has n’t had to maintain itself to hit any bulk level I ’ve expect for here .
The only slight oddity here is that the 641 has no form of preout , which is going to make submarine sandwich integrating hard and intend you ca n’t elevate to any of the office amp choice in the North Collection without buying a preamp too . There is also no phono point or headphone socket , but Moon does make fantabulous examples of these albeit not in the North Collection ( although ‘ non North ’ components look sufficiently exchangeable that it ’s not the final stage of the world ) .
The relatively lean fitment of the 641 makes rather more sense when you take care at the functionality of the company ’s source equipment which lean to put up both cyclosis and additional digital inputs meaning if you go all in on North Collection equipment , they get an dire lot done . This ability is enhance by the 641 ’s control links that allow it to break away via a single control item .
Sound Quality
Moon is not and never has been a company interested in blow you off in the first few instant of listening . All of the nigh on obsessional effort that has gone into the 641 has been in the interest of realism and accuracy rather than something you use to impress your mates from clock time to time and then ignore for the ease of it . If that sounds underwhelming , it really , really should n’t . allow for me to ( try and ) explicate .
Connected to the Kudos Titan 505 verbalizer that live here for test work and with which I am intimately familiar , the style in which the Moon 641 lot about Burn Out by the Cinematic Orchestra is both extremely likeable and enormously informative . I have heard the track many grand of times over the years , and I ’ve heard it on some serious ironware . Even so , there are still chemical element to what is happening here that are noteworthy .
The first that the tonality is truly outstanding . Its unembellished and absolutely even across the frequency answer but , with a well recorded album like this , it is perfectly compelling . This is not an amplifier seek to add anything to the listening experience but instead it effortlessly ensures that everything on the transcription is offered up in utter proportion and made available to you . It ’s done in such an unostentatious way that sometimes , it ’s only when you heed to the same material on something else that you make how well the 641 is doing .
This is absolutely shew in the bass response . It ’s so well integrated into the residual of the frequency response and so attractively insure , you may jolly yourself that the stir of depleted closing on Telephasic Workshop by Boards of Canada is n’t as deep as it is on some other systems . Listen again and you realise that it is , but the ended want of overhang or sluggishness makes the Moon vocalise leaner than it is . In reality , it hit very hard indeed , it ’s just doing so with staggering sleight .
Tested via both the matching 681 Streamer and with my resident Chord Electronics Hugo Mscaler and TT2 pairing , the 641 has demonstrated some consistent traits ; I ’m not sure that Moon would like me using the countersign ‘ personality ’ because it suggests a level of color that is n’t really present . This is an amplifier render hard not to be the news report but instead doing everything it can to get the euphony materialize . For something as consistently revealing as it is , I ’ve also come up it to be commendably forgiving of less than consummate material . It ’s riotous and up-and-coming but never at the expense of forcing dull material .
One final area I ’ve line up that 641 to stand out is with vinyl . The clean and uncoloured sound means that the tonal balance of a turntable front end is have with no additional character grovel in .
I had a very enjoyable blast through the newly released ‘ Zero Gravity ’ adaptation of the original PS1 Wipeout soundtrack ( yes , I buy a 28 - year - quondam electronic computer biz soundtrack on vinyl ) and the private road and impact of the 641 was a joy from commencement to conclusion .
The 125 - James Watt major power output might not be vast on newspaper publisher , but I ’ve also found no dearth of headroom even when running magazine and phono stage combinations with special amplification . If you are already felicitous with the tonal balance of your system , the Moon 641 is going to promote its capability without modify the aspect you already like .
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Should you buy it?
The 641 is a demonstration of go beyond telephone issue big businessman outputs and a socket for every occasion . It does a specific solidification of functions but does them staggeringly well . It will drop into a huge range of system and complement them all while allowing for pretty much spare reign in speaker choice thanks to the effortless power delivery .
Many incorporated amplifier at this price do a fair flake more than the 641 , be it make a phono stage and headphone amp or being most of the way to a full all - in - one scheme . The 641 is a draw of money in its own right field and need a middling bit of supporting equipment to show what it can do .
Final Thoughts
The 641 is a fairly pricey matter and it will postulate adequate source and speakers to truly make the investment worthwhile . Work with it though and it can render a sincerely striking public presentation that combines telling neutrality and pellucidity with a tier of build and finish that even rivalry at the monetary value battle to check .
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How we test
We test every amplifier we review thoroughly over an extended catamenia of time . We use industry standard test to liken features properly . We ’ll always differentiate you what we find . We never , ever , take on money to brush up a product .
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FAQs
You ca n’t unite a subwoofer to the Moon 641 as it does n’t have a torpedo out connection .
