Fast and loud for a low priced integrated.

You get what you pay for and sometime not even quite.

Sim is a fairly new name in the hi end world but they do make some extremely impressive equipment. They offer good value compared to the old names like Krell, YBA, Levinson, etc. I read some of the reviews below and like to add my 2 cents based on a 2 months ownership period. I live in Michigan but does long term contract assignment out of state. I picked up a Sim I-5080 while working in Atlanta for a few months. Forget the retail price because dealers will let you negotiate on the price. I was able to get a new one for $1050 out the door which was not too bad. After using this unit, I don't have any thing bad to say about it based on the price but I definitely disagree with the majority of the reviews here. I should mention first that my primary amp at home is a Musical Fidelity A3 Amp and Preamp combo. Yes, it's the same combo that Stereophile raved about and which sells for about $3000. I should also describe a bit about my taste in terms of the type of sound that impresses me. A great amp to me is one that must have good timbre accuracy, resolution, superb dynamics plus it must exudes a sense of effortless control over the speakers. The Sim has good speed and dynamics but the resolution leaves some to be desired. It's midrange can use some improvement in purity. The highs are smooth but at the price of a somewhat close in sound. Is this bad for a $1200 unit integrated unit, no. Is this impressive for a $1200 unit, no. For example, I think the new Creek 5300SE and MF A300 integrated units are probably worlds better in areas the Sim lacks. I heard the Creek at one dealer and was so impressed with its pure and clear midrange plus the overall sound was naturally open and transparent. I also remember that Musical Fidelity A300 also was pretty good too with outstanding timbre reproduction. Both these units have very impressive performance signatures and I think they are the reason I think Sim needs to deliver better performance value. I haven't listened to their I-5 model so maybe that could be where Sim hide their marbles. I would say that the I-5080 would be a good choice for fast electronic dance music because of its impressive speed but I doubt if it really qualifies for more critical listening. That's my opinion but anyone who interested should go out and listen to the units personally and not base too much on reviews alone.

Incredible imaging, dynamics, torque and rythm

Very forward so match your system and cables; remote control an absolute piece of c....p.

Can't beat it for the price - it looks great, sounds expensive and still leave you $$$ for cables and speaker upgrade - When compared to I5080, the I5 clearly illustrates the laws of HiEnd: decreasing marginal return or, for twice the money, you only get 25% better.....

super fast on delivery of transients

none for the price

What an amp! For $1300, you can't do any better than this unit. Separates every musical notes so well. Bass delivery is top notch, nothing laid back here. On rock, percussion comes thru simply furious. Clapton Unplugged and Floyd's The Wall sounded like its been reformatted to SACD. The harmonics were so true. On classical, this model really shines too, the first time I listened Orff's Carmina Burana I almost fell out of my chair. The soundstage and separation of the chorus were unbelievable. Talk about adding emotions to your listening experience, simply awesome. At average to loud volume, this unit has almost a tubelike sound to it, I'm referring to the harmonic characteristics that usually comes with tube amps. In my opinion, this unit delivers music with the dynamics and emotions that you usually get with large separates. Of course, this is not to say that it is just as good as the expensive separates. It can never match the drive ability and control of the large separates during really loud volume or when playing in a big room. But for most typical listening sessions, this little unit delivers just as impressively as the big guys. Also amazing if you think of the $1300 price. Although I heard that the price has been increased to $1500 recently.

I'll try to do a quick comparision of this unit with other integrated amps I've listened to in the past.
The YBA Integre DT is more transparent but also more laidback. It is probably more refined in its presentation than the Sim. The Sim delivers music with more emotion and dynamics plus it handles sibilants from vocals better than the YBA.
The Bryston B60 is very detailed, almost too bright sometimes with bad recordings. You have to be selective with your recording materials otherwise it is very unpleasant to listen at times. Bass and dynamics are inferior to the Sim, that's safe to say.
The MF A3 from Audio Advisor is a really nice unit. For most people, I think it would be tough choice between this unit and the Sim. It is almost equivalent to the Sim in most aspects, except it has a little more detail at low volume. But at average to loud volume, the Sim comes thru better on bass and the Sim gives you less shrill and listening fatigue. I personally prefer the Sim because you can keep it turn on all the time so the performance is perfect everytime you listen to it. The MF A3 requires you to turn it off so it takes about 15 minutes warm up for it to sound its best.
I must mention that if you have a combined home theater and 2-channel music setup, the Sim has a great feature that let you bypass the preamp and let you control the volume with your HT processor/amp. I didn't know how much I would appreciate this feature until I started to use it.

Anyway, I hope this review help some of the potential integrated amp shoppers out there. I love music and audiophile so you're welcome to email with comments or questions.

Similar Products Used:

Yba Integre, Bryston B60 and Musical Fidelity A3

build and wieght

You just cant beat Sim. Canadian made, built to last. You can tell the minute you hit the power. If you dont beleave me, go to a dealer and try one out. You can email me for a Canadian shipper for any sim products or PSB, he will ship anywhere at the best prices.

Wow. I have to relisten to my CD's all over again.
Dynamic, crisp, warm, rich sounds come out from this
one. Power is great with torque needed for bigger speakers and big rooms.

Remote is a plus, definition is comparable to systems more expensive.
Staging is exellent. Why pay more? I dont know. This is a gem.

My favorite.

I've been listening to this brand new integrated for about a few days and has been broken in. I describe this product as extremely fast and able to seperate every constituent of the music almost flawlessly. Power is not incredible @80w, but I consider this technology and build quality to be state of art. I have compared this int. amp to similar offerings from krell, classe and audio research and none sound as natural or has the resolving power of this integrated. A great buy even compared to the moon I-5. I'd say 95% capability of M I-5.
Speakers: Totem model 1
cd: nad 517
dac: theta chroma
cable: tara prism bi-wire
intconn.:totem sinew
dig-cab:tara prism d-2

I would like to back track on my last review of the I5080, The strengths of this intergraded amp is with out a doubt the price and performance. But I would like to say to many audiophiles seem to be and me also to give a five star rating to often and audiophiles might be to excited because they have a new product and go to quickly into giving it a 5 star rating or judging it to quickly into not giving this sim amp enough time to break in and some might bash it, Hey if the remote works but if its not built that great, Id rather settle for that than some unrealistic muddy bright sounding amp. I would like to say that after listing to the SIM moon series w3 amp with the p5 preamp the I5080 gets a 4 star rating, I have to be more realistic about my ratings and not get hung up on my excitement becuase I did get very excited when I heard the I5080 out perform in a lot of ways my x Krell amp FPB 300amp, And thats saying a lot for a 1300. Inter graded amp. The krell FPB300 retails for 9,600. so there you go it just told me something about price, dont be fooled.

The SIM I5080 gets a four star rating, But if it wasn't for the I5080 Id still be searching and I did get rid of my Krell full power balanced 300 amp. In return I got some money back in my pocket but still lost money selling the KRell hype, but thanks to the SIM I5080 I now own the moon series w3 p5 combo and thats a five star to stay without a dout in my mind. If you could get your hands on the I5080 and try it out at home, take that option and good luck, If theres something you dont like about it ask the dealer if its broken in, or you might want to try your source and try the MSB with this combo..the Msb gold link could make any stereo sound great believe me just go try it and get back to me. WWW.mlbtonite@aol.com

Similar Products Used:

ITS better than the Audiorefinement its has better control and more involing and it all depends on what kind of digital gear is hooked up to it. I do have to say for the price the Audio Refinement is a great investment also but the sim audio has a better hold on the music. I use for digital is the MSB gold link dont judge it for its price it will.. with out a doubt out perform WADIA CD830-KRELL kav300cd and the NAIM 3.5 with flat cap power supply well because I had them all. I use it with the pioneer 525dvd player and I would like to use a better trans port but its not that important when you know it sounds better than what you use to have and cost a lot more. I am very happy...I play all types of musics and that can be a hard person to please. For speakers I use DYNAUDIO 1.8.

I've owned this unit for about half a year. It is meant to be a simple temporary amp before I go the digital route. No separates for me. Main reason for choosing this: SS sound. I've been looking for an SS amp that provides true SS sound instead of trying to mimic tube, and I believe I have found what I'm looking for. But I came to the conclusion that both designs have their own strengths and weaknesses. Thus they excel for different instruments and types of music. Prior to owning this integrated, I've owned the following: Meridian 551, Krell KAV-300i, and Bryston B-60. The Bryston was used with my current DAC so the comparison is more accurate than the rest. Also, I was expecting the Sim to be better overall than the Bryston.
Appearance: I expected to get the silver version but I received the black one instead. I found out that if you like high tech look (as opposed to classy), the black one is much cooler. Check it out at night when it's turned on and you'll think twice about getting the silver one.

Built Quality: Like anything else in the price range. Not as durable as the Bryston but similar to the Krell. The standard remote however is the worst that I've ever seen. One would think that it's meant for worse components than mass market stuff. Really, it's that bad. In fact, the thing broke after the first 5 minutes. I found out later that they got a bad batch of Motorola controllers. This standard remote only has power, input, and vol control. Now as for the metal version, you wouldn't be able to tell it from small brick if it's painted red. It's weighted, finished, and shaped very similarly to a brick. Yes, it's that impressive and it's also the heaviest remote I have ever come across. But how useful is it? The manual mentions mute and LED control somewhere so I thought they are provided in the metal remote. But the only new function you get is balance control! That's it! Is it worth $160 Can in exchange? I don't think so. But then I don't think anyone can live with the cheap version. One is crap, one is overbuilt with no improvement on functionality. The fact that they mentioned non-existent functions on the manual is proof that they got this model out too early.

The second complain is the fact that the power supply makes a noticable low humming noise. This is not evident unless you're about 2 feet from it, but I can't help but to wonder what the effects would be to the overall sound. And there was also one time when one of the vol button on the amp got stuck. This is all within the first week of use.

Sound: Dynamic, fast, airy, and transparent. These are properties that other amps could not compete against. I didn't notice much dynamics in the beginning but after leaving it on for 3 days, it changed for the better. It also works better when matched with neutral cables such as simple copper wire or silver plated copper. I replaced the Harmonic Tech Pro-9 with a Tributaries SP4. The 14 gauge Tributaries is actually bordering on the resistance limit for a good match with the speakers but the result is still better. I found the Bryston to be more involving and realistic in conveying single instruments and slow musics, particularly because of its warm and dark properties. It is also fuller bodied with the right amount of warmth. But this comes at the expense of coloration, less detail, more grain, and less treble extension. The Sim's bass is also leaner (less distortion?) but tighter.

Most audiophiles would find the clean sound too cold and sterile. It doesn't have the same level of depth as the Bryston but it compensates with presence. Some would compare it to mid end SS. I don't think that's a fair comparison considering the airy treble. Overall, the Sim has less dimension than the Bryston but has the excitement it lacks due to its effortless dynamics. It also sounds much more transparent and has a more realistic soundstage. This is not surprising since they are designed with two different philosophies in mind. Sim Audio is one of the few high end companies whose main goal is to keep the signal as pure as possible by making short signal paths and removing any coloration from caps. They also went as far as removing any kind of protection from speaker cable short circuit. To quote the manual:

"Pleasing sound and accurate music reproduction are two completely different goals. Our philosophy is accurate music reproduction."

In summary, rock, techno, and other fast music lovers would love the Sim (with the addition of a sub); almost eliminating it from entering Stereophile's recommended list. The Bryston runs out of breath 1/3 up on the volume while the Sim seems to have unlimited power. Jazz and new age fans should settle with either a Bryston B-60 or a Musical Fidelity X-A100R (better than B-60?). The differences are not subtle. So it's either you love it or hate it. By the way, it seems that the Canadians are the current leaders in budget components. That = even better values from their dealers.

Compared to the Krell, the Sim actually sounds similar but with crisper treble and controlled bass. The Krell is actually better if you're planning to use it for college parties, rap music, or anything else that just plays loud. Real enthusiasts would find the Sim a more balanced alternative. Other complains on the Krell: bloated bass, uneven volume control, cheap remote (not as bad as this one), and overheating. I wanted to like the Krell but I had to admit that it's mostly undeserved hype. But at least, there's high demand for it in the used market.

The Meridian is obviously no match for the Sim. This is not a good revelation since I paid the same for both. It sounded thin with limited bass extension and small soundstage. The transparency is actually similar but everything else including built quality is worse with the Meridian. But I won't comment much since I had completely setup back then. I really like the size and look of the Meridian though. A simple high end amp in petite size. Nice… if only it has bass and less distortion than my RX-V992 receiver.

Conclusion: The I-5080 is excellent for people who like fast music and accuracy. It fulfills the goal of the Celeste line as a budget component and to expect more would not be reasonable. The lean bass forces serious listeners to get a sub but it shouldn't be necessary with fullrange speakers. Also, note that Sim amps are designed and tested around Totem speakers. If you read the other Sim reviews on this site you'll find out that most owners use Dynaudio based drivers (Totem uses Dynaudio drivers). Too bad I sold my One's a while back.

Last comments: I'd love to compare it against YBA Integre DT and Audio Refinement Complete. Someone said that it's better than the Integre (not DT version) and I've heard numerous comments on its very similar performance with the top of the line Sim Audio Moon I-5. But then everyone says the Complete is better. Should be an interesting comparison. One more thing, do not play anything while powering the unit using the master switch on the back. Sometimes it will force the unit to start playing at full power. But this might be caused by the 120HZ setting on the P300. In any case, care must be taken when using this amp, just as certain consideration issues when using ribbon speakers.

Related Components:
AA DTI Pro 32
MSB The Link DAC
Newform R630, Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkII
Hsu TN1220HO subwoofer + 250W amp
HT Pro-9 Plus, Tributaries SP4 speaker cables
HT Truth Link interconnects
Dunlavy ULC Standard interconnects
PS Audio P300 power plant

Rating: Sound = 4 stars, -1 for built quality and design.

Price, exceptional Home Theater performance with gain bypass feature, full function remote.

Need good cable match.

Want to turn your speakers into electrostatics? I think I came very close to doing it. The Sim I-5080 produces extremely fast and vivid music. The music is rendered very differently than most other equipment on the market, the Sim makes most of the other gears sound pretty laid back and LIVELESS in comparision. But what I wanted to comment on is how well this amp work with silver cables. The sound of the Sim with my previous JPS cables was fast, crisp and distinct but there was a slight roll off in the extreme highs. And I am sure this was no fault of the JPS because I used them before with other amps and never had a HF extension issue. I waited about 4 months for my Sim to break in, the roll off became less obvious, but it still left me not totally happy. I was advised by a friend to try the Kimber KCAG interconnects and see how it would sound. Well, I'll cut to the chase: the sound was phenomenal. The HF rolloff was definitely past tense BUT the speed and the distinctiveness of each musical notes were shocking. I thought the I-5080 was pretty good before the KCAGs but with the KCAGs I am now just glued to my listening chair. Everytime I play track 3 of Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon with all the bells going off left center and right, people eyes just pop open and they just simply freak from the realism.

But so much for the rave and excitement. Here comes the not so exciting stuff. Kimber KCAGs are not cheap, they are $460/Meter retail. I got the half meter version at a discount for $220. Silver cables like the Kimber KCAG and Silver Streak have always been known for great detail retrieval but they are notorious for adding glare and brightness to a system. The HF extension that is lacking in the Sim does, however, result in a perfect match for these cables. The friend that tipped me on the KCAG uses Silver Streaks with his I-5080 and he swears they sound awesome. So it depends on your budget or how far apart your components are. But if you have very good sources and revealing speakers, you got to get the KCAG. I don't know whether all silver cables will sound great with the I-5080 but ... in theory they should.
Of course, your speakers should have good details and accuracy to start with, I think any pair that retails for $1500 or more should be fine. My speakers are mid B&W CDM-NTs (about $1600).

Real electrostatics (such as Martin Logan SL3s which I spent a lot of time listening to) do have a more razor edge quality to the high freq. But you have to consider the fatigue factor when you play your music a bit on the loud side. It's a matter of taste but I think the Sim and silver cables combo is much much cheaper that the Martin Logans and those monoblocks required to drive them.

Any comments, questions or critisms are welcomed.

My current system:

Sim I-5080 Moon model
Sony DVD Carousel
MIT 750 Plus speaker cables
Kimber KCAG interconnects
Denon 3600 multi channels amp/HT decoder
B&W CDM NTs mains and Paradigm center/surround speakers
(I sold my MSB Link DAC because it added some glare to my music)

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity A3, Assemblage 300B tube amp.

For the price and the porformance there are no real weaknesses, this unit does deserve a 3 star rating theres something else wrong with the system if there is a weakness, All because of this i5080 it mad me relize that my krell fpb has to go, this intergrade amp had no hard time driving my gershmanAcoustic speakers wich the krell did, nobody has to explain that to me its just a better product. The i5080 made me buy the sim w3 amp. The krell krc pre amp is a great preamp, it makes a great match with a lot of amps thats why its still around, and I match it against many preamps and passive ones too, and its a great preamp a lot of money but a good one but this review is not about krell. And by the way this i 5080 makes a great match with the soliloquy speaker 5.3 an amazing pair of speakers with this amp.

If you want to blast yourself out the door try the sim audio moon series. This i5080 is great no weaknesses. I can find weaknesses in gear ten times the price and im talking about separate units. Thanks sim you mad my hobbie a lot easyer.

This component is a gem. five stars with out a doubt. And the build quality is great.It looks classy in both colors and silver is classy.

Similar Products Used:

Krell kavi,krell kav250amp,plinius-samk3amp,mccormackdn1 dna.5 dna.2,just to name a few.