The products of the Canadian company Simaudio, known under the MOON brand, have fantastic sound quality, cosmic manufacturing precision and futuristic design. The quality of MOON equipment has been confirmed by so many awards from professional specialized publications, including such eminent ones as Stereophile or The Absolute Sound, that one can doubt that only one company deserved them. In a word, MOON has everything we expect from high-end technology. An uncompromising approach to quality and the desire to obtain the best results in everything, including appearance, are precisely the principles that led to the success of the founders of Simaudio, but this is only part of the motto that guides them.
The main idea for which the Sima Electronics company, known to us today as Simaudio, was created more than thirty years ago, is the production of high-quality equipment that can give people joy and true pleasure from use. This is not to say that the founding fathers of Simaudio were alone in this endeavor. However, everyone finds their own approach to solving the same problem. Victor Sima and John Paulin understood that reaching the top level of quality, and even more so raising it even higher, is possible only if you are one or two steps ahead of your competitors. Obviously, this cannot be achieved using the technologies already existing and used by most manufacturers. The only way is to create something fundamentally new, look for your own ways to solve traditional problems, use advanced achievements of science, be at the forefront of scientific and technological progress and push technology forward. This is what allowed the developers to achieve the main thing – to create the best technology of its kind. But the use of new technologies inevitably places higher demands on the maintenance of devices, and if these technologies are unique, then few people other than their creators are able to organize maintenance. Thus, the idea that a well-established after-sales service is an integral part of a good product penetrated into the ideology of the Simaudio company.
Gradually, as the ideals of perfect sound were combined with humanistic ideas and the harsh realities of the modern world, the company motto crystallized: “Offer only the best products and services and train employees to improve the quality of life of people, preserving natural resources and our planet for future generations.” However, let’s get back to history. As we have already mentioned, Sima Electronics was founded more than thirty years ago, in 1980. At the beginning, it launched the production of purely professional audio equipment, but interest in home audio was, as they say, in the blood, so already in 1982 the production of amplifiers for home audio systems began. A real hit of that time was the PW-3000 integrated amplifier model, which was affordable and so good in sound quality that the demand for it exceeded the production capabilities of that time. All subsequent models of the 3000 series have consistently received high marks in the specialized press. Thus, even at the dawn of its existence, the company took a leading position in the local Hi-Fi market. In 1988, the home audio business was separated into a separate division, which received the now familiar name Sim Audio. In 1992, the proprietary concept for creating sound reinforcement equipment, called Renaissance, came to life. This was a fundamentally new look at circuit design and the implementation of amplifiers in general, implying the shortest signal path and the use of a balanced design without general feedback. It was the Renaissance concept that allowed the developers to achieve an unprecedented improvement in the sound quality of the Celeste series components, which received recognition both among ordinary users and among experts in the specialized press. The models in the series looked completely unusual, but even more extraordinary was the price-quality ratio. The Celeste series models had no competitors in their class, and to this day they are successful in the secondary market. Advanced Renaissance technology is currently used in the MOON Classic series amplifiers.
It was with the Advanced Renaissance technology that the history of modern MOON technology began. Components under this name first appeared in 1997. They were based on the experience of creating the Celeste series and new, even more advanced technologies. The first generation of components released under the name MOON is still sold today, although in a somewhat improved and modernized form. The Classic series is formed from these components. Before talking about the development of the MOON line, it’s worth making a short lyrical digression and paying attention to the name itself and its logo. Let’s start with the last one. In order to understand what exactly is depicted in the square MOON logo, you need to rotate it 45° counterclockwise. This makes it more obvious that the bizarre lines are nothing more than the middle part of the treble clef – a symbol of music that everyone understands. According to the authors, turning the key symbolizes movement. In turn, the combination of movement and music is a symbol of the fact that Simaudio is a dynamically developing company that employs people passionate about music and art.
The word MOON is an abbreviation, each letter of which has its own special meaning. The letter “M” stands for “music”. Music is what inspires Simaudio developers, just as Muses inspire musicians. The first letter “O” takes us to the symbol “Omega”, which is the last letter of the ancient Greek alphabet and usually symbolizes a possible limit, or the totality of all possible results. In the name MOON, it symbolizes that the ultimate goal of the developers is the most advanced and most luxurious components that can be created. The next letter “O” is a symbol borrowed from nothing less than the spectral classification of stars. Class O stars are the brightest and hottest. The power of their radiation is a million times greater than our Sun. Such stars are extremely rare, with approximately one in 3,000,000 falling into this class. Thus, the second “O” in the word MOON emphasizes that this technique is truly rare, exceptional, providing an unrivaled level of performance and quality. The letter “N” stands for note – the basic element of music, which is a universal language understood by every person in our world. Just as music is made up of notes, MOON components make up the perfect system for playing it.
This is how the philosophy turns out, summed up in one simple word MOON. Well, now, back to the story. In 2001, the first theatrical product was released under the MOON brand – the Titan multi-channel power amplifier. The model became a real breakthrough among the AV amplifiers offered at that time. The amplifier featured many interesting technological and circuit solutions. In particular, one of them made it possible to ensure uniform loading of channels. In 2005, in honor of the company’s 25th anniversary, a limited series of MOON Limited Edition components was released. It included Nova and Eclipse CD players, an i-5 integrated amplifier, a P-5 preamplifier and a W-5 power amplifier. Improvements affected the power supply and some specific components. All components for the Limited Edition series were selected with even higher precision than usual. As a result, the anniversary series was able to surpass the standard components in quality. A total of 250 copies of each model were produced.
Also in 2005, a new series MOON Evolution was released. The features of the new product are extremely lively and natural sound, luxurious finishes, absolute ease of operation and flexible layout and integration of components. It was in this series that an integrated approach to improving the quality of life was particularly evident, since not only the sound was improved, but also the design and ergonomics of the components. Technically, this was implemented by switching to a fully balanced circuit design and introducing control interfaces: RS232 and customizable 12-volt triggers. By the way, three years later, the Evolution series was replenished with multi-channel devices: a processor/preamplifier, an AV power amplifier and an HDMI switch. 2007 brought an update to the Classic series, with the addition of Trickie Down Technology components. This means that the components of this series use key technological solutions borrowed from the equipment of the top lines. Simaudio has a large production facility located in Montreal, Canada. There can be no talk of any transfer of production to the countries of Southeast Asia. It must be said that Simaudio’s approach to the production of its components is generally very unusual. The fact is that Canadians strive to produce the maximum number of components and parts of their equipment on their own. This fundamentally distinguishes Simaudio from the vast majority of other manufacturers, who are forced to purchase parts from third-party suppliers. Despite the complexity of this approach, it has obvious advantages, allowing Canadians to maintain complete control over product quality and ensure consistency of product performance.
