Moon 891

No less than eight boxes, powered by six after-market power cables, comprise my current reference front-end.'

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STREAMING PREAMPLIFIER

As much as separate boxes can afford superior isolation and provide far more room for visionary engineers to work their magic, the advantages of a single box, which requires a single power cable and far fewer after-market interconnects, are obvious.

Enter Simaudio's Moon 891 network player/preamplifier ($25,000). Also called a "streaming preamplifier"-Simaudio frequently struggles with how to clearly and succinctly brand its Moon products-it includes a DAC that converts PCM and MQA files up to 32/384 (with 24-bit files upconverted to 32-bit) and DSD files up to 256. It also includes what Simaudio company co-owner Costa Koulisakis describes as "a fully configurable" MC/MM phono stage. Both theoretically and practically, it's an ideal solution for someone with space and/or budget constraints.

The 891 is also potentially a good match for the excellent Moon 861 stereo amplifier ($22,000). (I reviewed a bridged pair of 861s last month and used them in this review.) Although the 891 has no internal storage, it can play files from streaming services, a directly-attached NAS, or a USB stick. The MIND 2 built into the 891 has a large buffer so caching of content is done during playback to address latency issues, dropouts, and other network instabilities. The buffer is automatically cleared when the 891 is turned off. Its brightness-controlled digital display, which can adapt to the lighting in the listening environment or be turned off completely during playback, is very up to date, with full-color album covers, titles, track names, and volume level visible to this audiophile from 12' away. (It also displays active input and the digital input's sample rate.) Adjustability includes two screen-saver styles, which can be disabled. Firmware updates are easily downloaded and installed from the internet.