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Will it work? Copland preamp and Moon I-5 Int Amp

I was thinking of adding a Copland preamplifier to drive my integrated amplifier, will it work and will it give me what I want?

My system consists of a SimAudio Moon I-5 integrated amplifier driving Totem Hawks. My source is SimAudio's Moon Equinox CD player.

My last upgrade to my system was to get some excellent interconnects. Now the CD player sounds as if the output jacks were connected directly to the amplifier input jacks, as if there were no interconnects at all! In other words there is no colouration of the sound, no filtering, no delays or smearing to interfere with timing or percussive elements. Needless to say I have been enjoying this system for some time......however.....

Both the Hawks and the I-5 have a reasonable reputation for having a wide and deep sound stage. (Sure, maybe neither is the best in this area but they aren't all that bad either.) Lately I have been wondering if I could do better with my system. I have heard excellent reports about the Copland preamps. One of their strengths that is often sited is the holographic imaging. I was thinking about picking up a used Copland 301 or 305 and using it for my preamp; driving the HT bypass inputs of the Moon I-5. (I presume this would by-pass the preamp section of the I-5.)

Do you think this would be a good choice for my next upgrade? Do you think that this would improve the overall sound of my system? Or is there a better place to look for improvement?
rova
has2be's avatar
has2be
555 posts
 
I would go one step further. If your attracted towards the copland pre, why not swap out the I-5 with the copland integrated amp. One less costly set of interconnects thus a shorter signal path . If your happy with the I-5 why add another pre amp? Copland products are very underated and well built products. Cheers
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,539 posts
 
Unless the manual for the Moon says that a set of the inputs bypasses the preamp section I would assume that they don't. You can call Moon and confirm.
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,756 posts
 
The inputs on the I-5 labeled "A4" are designed as a pass-through that does not engage the preamp so that should work as the input for your preamp. I haven't used them that way but I can't think of a reason it wouldn't work.
jrinkerptdnet
430 posts
 
well it SHOULD work but I think I would sell the I-5 and get a SimAudio power amp or a Copland power amp to use with the Copland pre. Not sure that an integrated amp used as a power amp only is the best scenario.

also, IMHO speakers are more responsible for "holographic imaging" than any other gear ... if your speakers are not capable of imaging like a demon, no gear in the world will be able to squeeze that out of them. So if it is imaging you want, you may do better to replace your speakers.

Jeff
rova OP
28 posts
 
Good input so far thanks.

I agree that using the Copeland to drive the I-5 would be an odd choice. Long term I would add a SimAudio power amplifier, however money is still a limiter so one thing at a time. I am hoping that I would hear an overall improvement with the system by using the Copeland as the preamp. Why? Because I hear the Copeland preamps are excellent (for the amount of money spent). Second I don't think SimAudio is known for their top rank preamps, amplifiers yes, but not preamps.

Regarding the speaker as a limiting factor, that is also a good point. I heard comments that the Totem Hawks are pretty good for imaging and sound staging but I haven't had a lot of other speakers. So the question I would ask you more experienced Audiogoners would be, is the Totem Hawk good enough with regard to imaging that I should be able to hear improvements with better system components or is there more to get out of my system with alternate speakers?

ROVA
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