{"id":275512,"date":"2025-01-28T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/articles\/moon-simaudio-250i-v2\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T12:14:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T12:14:45","slug":"moon-simaudio-250i-v2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoustics.com\/articles\/moon-simaudio-250i-v2\/","title":{"rendered":"MOON 250i v2 Integrated Amplifier: The Audiophile System Builder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Oh Canada. What have they done to the place where I was born; 4 weeks premature and already waving an American flag and dreaming of dried out beef (there’s nothing better than Biltong — not even a Kurnatzel from Pancer’s<\/a> or Schwartz’s<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Moe
The original Pancer’s Deli. Toronto, Canada <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

3 decades of NHL futility without a Stanley Cup, unaffordable housing, architectural mass murder in the Greater Toronto Area, shameful levels of homelessness and the mentally ill roaming the streets, and a petulant bartender pretending to be the Prime Minister who is finally stepping down<\/a> but not until he steals all of the hair dryers and mousse from Rideau Cottage on his way out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You get whom you “woke” for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the cultural cognoscenti in Forest Hill and Westmount will understand the dark humour in that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Outside
The Village of Forest Hill. Toronto, Canada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Put aside any notion that Toronto is a “world class” city (born and raised so I’m speaking from experience); when you feel the need to mention that designation in all of your promotional material — you probably are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we take a deeper look at the MOON 250i v2<\/a> Integrated Amplifier ($2,400), it’s worth thinking about what is happening right now in Los Angeles and remembering that this is only a piece of Hi-Fi equipment and nothing more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

eCoustics is a Southern California-based company and all of us here know people who have been impacted over the past week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tens of thousands of people experienced an apocalyptic nightmare in the second largest city in this country and those of us who can go to sleep tonight in our homes should be beyond grateful and think about how fragile all of this really is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you help those who really need it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red Cross<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The American Red Cross has hundreds of volunteers deploying to Los Angeles to assist with emergent needs of those displaced by the fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to donate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North of the Border <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Do you know what Canadians are really good at? Making Hi-Fi electronics and loudspeakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MartinLogan<\/a> (started in Lawrence, Kansas…and you can listen to my interview with Gayle Sanders here<\/a>), Paradigm<\/a>, GoldenEar<\/a>, Bryston<\/a>, Meitner, Oracle, Gershman Acoustics, Totem Acoustics<\/a>, PSB<\/a>, NAD<\/a>, Bluesound<\/a>, and Simaudio — all Canadian companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simaudio<\/a> began in St. Hubert, Quebec, in 1980 by the late-Victor Sima who passed away in November 2024. Not only did it become one of the most successful Canadian high-end audio brands, but also one of the most recognised around the world for its superb sonics, world class engineering and build quality, and 10-year warranty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many brands outside of Simaudio and Bryston offer such generous warranties for their products? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montreal has always been the “heart and soul” of Canada from a cultural perspective and there is no better place to get a bagel or smoked meat on rye, or drink at midnight whilst kvetching about how bad the Canadiens are right now — so it makes perfect sense that the best high-end electronics in Canada come from a Montreal-based company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fairmount
The only bagel that matters. Fairmount. Montreal, Quebec <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Moon 250i v2 is probably the least sexy model in their extensive lineup — but that’s also what makes it such a deal at its asking price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My review of this “old school” integrated amplifier will appear next week but selecting it for our “Best Integrated Amplifiers: Editors’ Choice 2024<\/a>” list was very easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Montreal-based manufacturer is a little obsessive when it comes to engineering and build quality and it shows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve also included the MOON 110 LP v2 on our “Best Phono Preamplifiers: Editors’ Choice 2024<\/a>” list for over 2 years because there is nothing better below $600.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Moon<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The MOON 110 LP v2 is one of the few really affordable components in the lineup, and we\u2019ve wondered for the past year if they planned on bringing back any of their legacy products at prices that more audiophiles could afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new MOON 250i v2 builds on the foundations of the previous award-winning models. The upgraded circuit design uses next generation semiconductors to provide an improvement in sound quality, and the addition of the MM phono preamplifier increases functionality — the previous iteration did not include one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The class A\/B integrated amplifier outputs 50 watts\/channel into 8 ohms and 100 watts\/channel into 4 ohms. The 250i v2 includes a headphone amplifier, pre-amplifier out, and there are no streaming capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chassis is on the compact side for a Simaudio amplifier at 16.9 x 3.5 x 14.4 in and you will definitely notice the 23 pounds when you lift it from the packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pros:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n