Intro
Contents
We recently had the MOON 680D for a visit. It’s a beautiful converter with streamer. In short: an interesting package for those looking for a high-quality digital system. But it lacks something: a volume control. Or an amplifier. So today: the MOON 600i V2… the perfect partner. Or is it?
With the MOON 700i V2 it was pretty clear that we were dealing with a high-end powerhouse. It’s a pretty big amplifier. The MOON 600i V2 isn’t. It could have been a preamplifier if you look at the size. Were it not that we see some spealer connections at the back. And the name: 600i… where the i stands for integrated of course.
Modest
There is more modest stuff to be found. This new V2 version has 125 watts at 8 Ohms and 250 watts at 4 Ohms. That’s more than enough for most speakers, but honestly: it’s not a powerhouse. The 700i V2 adds (just) 50 watts. And that’s not a huge powerhouse either. The Bryston delivers about the 300 watts in 8Ohm. But that’s all just numbers on paper. What it’s all about, of course, is how’s the power deliverd? How smooth and controlled is the power output?
In the MOON 600i we see a complementary dual-mono design: two power supplies, two input channels, two output channels. And everything is completely differential. When we read the documentation, MOON does not use global feedback. This is to maintain speed and transparency. Now we know that feedback has advantages and disadvantages. It can provide more control and lower distortion. But it can also get too dry. And introduce other problems – phase behaviour, loss of openness. Once again, we see that each manufacturer follows its own path. And that’s good. It creates diversity.
The modesty we read on paper – in terms of power – disappears like snow in the sun when we hear the first notes: the MOON 600i V2 is powerful, energetic, rich in detail… it breaths authority. But more about the reproduction later. First, let’s see what you get.
Connection
The 600i V2 offers one XLR-input, and four single ended inputs. Then also a set of single ended out for those who want to pair a power-amplifier. We would have liked to see more XLR-inputs. Especially because the complete design is fully differential and dual mono. So it can certainly benefit from balanced inputs.
There is more on the back of this MOON:
- RS232 (home automation)
- Simlink
- IR in (for an ir-eye)
- Trigger
With five inputs we see enough connectivity. Perhaps a phono input would have been nice for 8200 euros. But yes: if you want it at the level of the 600i V2, that is not financially feasible, we think.
The finish is the same as the MOON 680D: sleek, neat and modern. We’re starting to appreciate the display more and more: nice and large. And it’s easy to dim, so it doesn’t have to disturb at night. You turn it off completely by holding the button down for two seconds.
An odd thing we noticed with our sample, is that with mute switched on, there is still sound audible (very dim… but audible). We hear high-hats very softly through the Focals. Definitely not disturbing, but a bit weird, because it looks like the relay doesn’t close completely. It turns out that the first 50 models had this and that it is now solved. In short: don’t worry.