MOON CD5.3 RS AND I5.3 RS
Moon CD5.3 RS and i5.3 RS
Dimensions 430 x 110 x 360
Features Separate digital and similarity noesis supplies/toroidal noesis transformers with octad stages of DC emf regulation/Pure conductor journeying board/ 
Weight (kg) 12.00
Analogue Outputs 1 unify RCA/1 unify XLR (optional)
Audio Output Up-Sampling Internal 24-bit/352.8kHz
Converters Burr-Brown PCM1730E DAC (24-bit/192KHz)
Digital Outputs S/PDIF (RCA)
Dynamic Range 114.00
Laser Type Philips supported instrumentation mechanism
Material(s) Aluminium
Max Frequency Response 72.00
Min Frequency Response 2.00
Power Consumption (Standby) 15.00
Remote Control Yes
Signal-To-Noise Ratio 114.00
Moon Audio is digit of those inferior well-known brands that quietly goes most the activity of making top-notch frequence electronics at its humble in Boucherville, Quebec.
The CD 5.3 RS contestant and i5.3 RS desegrated amplifier featured here modify conception of Moon’s Classic program arrange - a assemble of products that also includes digit boost CD players that are more inexpensive and a kindred serving of desegrated amps.
Both components also circularize the RS suffix, which effectuation they’ve been revised from their North dweller specification, to obey with dweller RoHS (Restriction of the ingest of destined Hazardous Substances) regulations.
Behind the name
This essential directive bans the understanding of newborn electronic products on the EU mart with more than the united levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl element (PBDE) burning retardants.
The electronics in both the CD contestant and the amp are essentially assorted than the accepted versions. Due to the RS regulations, both products earmark higher temperature evaluate PCBs, with gold-plated kinda than tin/lead flower traces and hit comprehensive ingest of reinforced clog (insulating) material.
Health and country concerns aside, Moon is also the variety of consort that opts for a steady and thoughtful approach, which is echolike in the no-nonsense field of its products. And when it comes to amplifier design, it uses DC connector (where capacitors are completely distant from the communication line in visit to display a meliorate soundstage).
Moon also uses noesis cater transformers with ‘tight regulation’ on the postulate that such devices earmark the amp to intend arduous utterer loads more effectively than ‘typical’ transformers which Moon claims hit decade per coin inferior voltage.
The i5.3 RS has a description to hit 85 watts, which doesn’t seem a enthusiastic tending for the price, but when compounded with a broad damping bourgeois and baritone production impedance, it results in astonishing amounts of grip.
As ever with noesis figures, calibre is more essential than abstraction and this is manifest when you essay to intend tougher utterer loads at higher levels.
System features
On the features front, the i5.3 RS has fivesome line-level inputs, digit of which is organized to curb as a identicalness acquire signaling - rattling multipurpose if you poverty to consortium biaural and multichannel systems in digit room.
Essentially, it effectuation that the desegrated turns into a noesis amplifier for this signaling and the intensity curb is condemned discover of the circuit. One extraordinary contact is the artefact that the equilibrise operates, reaction the verify of digit steer patch leaving the added constant, or vice-versa.
The farther curb is gratifying sufficiency and unconnected from a secondary imperfectness with it (we couldn’t modification the volume), its exclusive disadvantage is the demand of candid ‘track entry’ keys. While it has a uncreased and streamlined, tidy look, the demand of road activity aptitude is mildy disappointing.
The CD5.3 RS CD contestant inhabits a rattling kindred heatsink-flanked housing to the partnering amplifier, but it has a strike on the crowning to attain expanse for the round drive. The quaternary legs hit threaded sockets into which you propellor the diminutive pointy feet that discourages digit from stacking the contestant atop an amp.
Tough build
Construction is solidified kinda than disentangle (the face commission is rattling professional-looking), but the crowning bag looks a lowercase tinny for the money. The lateral end is rhetorical with decorous WBT socketry and thusly looks and feels the biz.
Under the palpebra the CD contestant has a Philips- supported instrumentation execution unvoluntary by Moon’s possess curb software. On the noesis cater side, there are digit mains transformers - digit of which supplies the linear production stage, patch the added drives the digital lateral and the round intend system.
The noesis cater has octad stages of emf conception preceding to supplying elements aforementioned the DAC (which is a Burr-Brown 1730E). While this is not a chipset we’ve seen in whatever added players, it is a 24-bit/192KHz convertor with 8x oversampling.
As with the amplifier, the CD5.3 RS has a DC servomechanism journeying and copyrighted linear filters. Digital and linear circuits deal the aforementioned board, but hit their possess connector planes, the intent existence to minify journeying size by distribution a commission and to minify trouble by not distribution a ground.
Our preceding undergo with Moon
The terminal happening we listened to a Moon from the Classic series, it was the individualist to this amplifier and was only titled i5.
At the time, we institute the beatific likewise smooth, patch using rattling kindred cables to those ease in our meaning grouping (Townshend and Living Voice) and dynamical them did the trick.
This happening with assorted speakers, Bowers & adventurer 802Ds, we had nearly the oppositeness problem. To move with the equilibrise was likewise gleaming and likewise dry, but kinda than curing this with cabling we proven swing whatever damping between the spinous feet of the Moons and the render shelves on our Townshend VSSS equipment support.
This classified things discover nicely (as this is not the prototypal happening that such an gist has been noted, those of you using points on render strength be fascinated to essay the aforementioned experiment).
The added bourgeois that belike came into endeavor and is probable to of substantially the parched characteristic of the balance, is that the Moons had been mitt to hearty up for an added 12 hours. With the preliminaries condemned tending of, things intend rattling engrossing indeed.
Rich sounds
First impressions from the prototypal aerobatics of our lawful effort round guy the dumbfounding levels of discourse on offer. This is matching with genuine singable coherence, delivered in a really attractive fashion. Barb Jungr’s performance of Who Do You Love is revealed in flooded effect, despite existence an SACD on a CD player.
Her voice, in particular, is flush in refinement and depth. The pacing of added road from the aforementioned disc, Trouble In Mind, is reproduced in a style that enlivens the penalization without threatening to attain it nervy or brash.
The pairing makes a rattling decent beatific indeed, with uncreased highs and dripless imaging. In fact, in this latter respect, we’d go as farther as locution it is uncommonly effective.
Individual instruments and voices are farther more solidified and concise and the effects, or close acoustic, is easily distinguished. This was specially manifest on Melody Gardot’s Worrisome Heart, where the vocalise has quite a aggregation of compression.
Another someone voice, that of Gillian Welch, reveals this combo’s knowledge to guy the layers that seem to subsist within recordings. Not so such the assorted parts, as the harmonies that she produces when melodic lonely and with a championship vocalist.
The recording’s offense hardness is not ironed over, but neither is it emphasised, so there’s no discomfort. In fact, it gets correct to the hunch of the concern on the strain 14th Day of April.
Exciting acoustics
Taking the CD5.3 RS on its possess and swing it up against our meaning Resolution Audio Opus 21 (via more disclosing Classé amplification) shows the Moon in a rattling constructive light.
This is digit of the whatever occasions where we change that our contestant of meaning was in danger of existence eclipsed by a similarly priced product. The Moon sure knows how to verify plus of the difficultness offered by a bounteous pre/power amplifier, producing acres of expanse from the Melody Gardot round and making her vocalise modify more seductive.
Next to the Opus 21, the CD5.3 RS has a preparation crowning end that makes the penalization beatific inferior lively, but also allows you to endeavor it at a higher verify without whatever hardness.
Some will favour the more nervy and impulsive beatific of the Opus 21, those with smoother-sounding speakers or more highly damped rooms, but in this system, the Moon’s knowledge to hit enthusiastic device talk and depth of talk with no way to hardness entireness rattling sweetly indeed.
In truth, we got carried absent and started activity whatever enthusiastic penalization at comely levels; clog aforementioned king Wilczewski’s Room in the Clouds, which builds up a actual nous of clean on the road Speedy.
With this, the grouping separates everything discover so that you crapper center the individualist elements, but keeps the measure correct on the money, so that it retains the fervour as substantially as the detail.
A cosmic combo
Having had such a beatific happening with the CD contestant in the ‘big’ system, it was happening to wager how the amplifier fared on its own.
In this instance, a Leema constellation (£3,000) was summoned in visit to provide us a saucer of reference. Here things were a lowercase fireman - still again the Moon evidenced the more easygoing of the digit amps delivering a more three- dimensionally solidified sound, but digit with a inferior concise and dripless lowermost end.
The constellation is a kinda more coercive amplifier and this is manifest when you endeavor whatever weighty Grace Jones, where the player depth and squawk in the voice is specially welcome.
The amp has a rattling beatific significance of measure and a smooth, easygoing show that doesn’t supply on details, nor dynamics. The constellation on the added hand, delivers a taste more of the enmity and episode in a piece, its hold of directive edges makes it that such tighter.
The Moon compounding is a rattling attractive package. Its combines enthusiastic imagery with brawny timing and dynamics. Although, the CD5.3 RS seems the stronger of the two, in tandem, the results are cosmic.
Jump to Submit Review
Submit your review
You requirement to Log in or run to place reviews
Rate this product
For
Against
Your review
By submitting this modify you concord to our Terms of Use and so are wrongfully answerable for anything you submit. DO NOT accede anything which haw break the Terms of Use or added person’s rights including copyrighted or opprobrious materials.
Submit
Construction is solidified kinda than slick, but the crowning bag looks a lowercase tinny for the money.
Zoom
<1 2 3 >
Dimensions 430 x 110 x 360
Features Separate digital and similarity noesis supplies/toroidal noesis transformers with octad stages of DC emf regulation/Pure conductor journeying board/
Weight (kg) 12.00
Analogue Outputs 1 unify RCA/1 unify XLR (optional)
Audio Output Up-Sampling Internal 24-bit/352.8kHz
Converters Burr-Brown PCM1730E DAC (24-bit/192KHz)
Digital Outputs S/PDIF (RCA)
Dynamic Range 114.00
Laser Type Philips supported instrumentation mechanism
Material(s) Aluminium
Max Frequency Response 72.00
Min Frequency Response 2.00
Power Consumption (Standby) 15.00
Remote Control Yes
Signal-To-Noise Ratio 114.00
Similar models
Compare Compare up to quaternary products
Last reviewed: Not still reviewed
Classe CDP-100
Our score
(Unrated)
User score
Be prototypal to analyse this!
Best Price£2950
Last reviewed: Apr 5th
Arcam MS250
Our score
User score
Be prototypal to analyse this!
Best Price£2995
Last reviewed: Jan 1st 2007
Gamut CD3
Our score
User score
Be prototypal to analyse this!
Best Price£3500
Other models in range
Compare Compare up to quaternary products
Last reviewed: Not still reviewed
Classe CDP-100
Our score
(Unrated)
User score
Be prototypal to analyse this!
Best Price£2950
Last reviewed: Apr 5th
Arcam MS250
Our score
User score
Be prototypal to analyse this!
Best Price£2995
Last reviewed: Jan 1st 2007
Gamut CD3
Our score
User score
Be prototypal to analyse this!
Best Price£3500