The Article
Moon 390 Network Player/Pre-Amp on YouTube
7th February 2020
Paul Rigby takes a look at this all-in-one product that features a network/digital hub and a pre-amp
An all-in-one box that presents a hub for a host of digital hardware.
The 390 is also a pre-amp that can accept an external power amplifiier.
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To see the video, click the image below…
Hi Paul,
Love your newsletter and subscribe yet each time I open to read it, I get pop-ups asking me to subscribe. Isn’t there a way to eliminate annoying pop-ups for current subscribers? May be a small thing but every site in the known universe blasts a “subscribe” banner in front of the content.
Sorry for the rant.
Best,
MikeT.
Hi Mike – I can’t win on this one 🙂 Mainly because some people ask for an easy to find pop up to subscribe and then others hate it. What I did, instead of covering the entire screen, was to program it to pop on on the far right, avoiding editorial on a computer, at least.
Hi Paul
Sorry for the inane question but why even discuss having a pre-amp in between ,what Moon calls its 390 pre-amp?
What obvious thing am I missing?
I thought it would be always and only a pre-amp to power amp or mono blocks . I have the Ace and I did think about getting a power amp and using the Ace as the pre-amp. Is that feasible or plain daft?
Forgive my ignorance if I’m sounding daft
Regards
Kevin
Hi Kevin, sure you can use the 390 as a pre and it will work very well – as I mentioned in the review – but you may already own a pre which works well in your system, the pre you have might have more inputs (the 390 is a little limited in analogue terms for both single-ended and balanced and one set is dedicated to a phono amp), you might not want to use all of the facilities on the 390, just some of them. Hence, your own pre will give you the option to bring in a Bluetooth option of your own choosing for example…and so on. The 390 remains excellent in performance and provides a great option, expecially if its pre-amp is all you need because that will lower the footprint of your system.
Paul thank you for highlighting the phono amp capabilities of the 390. What would be your suggestions to think about or to look for when you want to find a “matching turntable” or optimise the 390 as phono amp in your system?
Ideally, you would buy a turntable first and focus on that, the tonearm, the cart and then you would consider your phono options and *then* buy a 390 🙂 If you can’t do that or if you’re upgrading your turntable then focus on the budget for that front end and get the best you possibly can. The phono amp isn’t part of the decision process at this point. After that, think about if you want to go external or pursue the 390’s internal model. It’s an excellent implementation although, looking at the price bracket it sits within, I’d still prefer an external model, given the choice and a decent budget but if footprint and budget is a factor (you save money and it takes no extra room) then the 390’s phono is a good choice.
Thank you! It definitely explains that right order of decisions. I have been an owner of the 390/330A combo for 2 years, and has become interested in exploiting its capacity as phonoamp due to your review, which sounds reasonable also from budget saving point of view. Listening also to your guidance for beginners on choosing the first turntable, I try to justify a reasonable investment / turntable choice to get the most in terms of sound quality within the given set up. Many thanks!
Thanks for clearing that up. Love the site and youtube videos. Keep up the good work of informing the newbies and audiophiles, with excellent reviews that cover all price points for the enthusiasts out there,
Glad I could be of help, Kevin – and thanks.