Typically when I write one of these missives, “Atoll Vs …” it ends up being Atoll vs something built in China. China doesn’t compare in quality to the French Atoll. The comparison is never a “battle.” The summation is always, spend a modest amount more to get a much superior Atoll.

This blurb is about Atoll vs a very formidable competitor, the new Moon 371 streaming integrated amp, $6500. The Moon is a nice product. Let’s compare!

First and foremost, LINEAR power supplies are always better than switching (SMPS) power supplies. Everyone who is using SMPS supplies brags that they’ve gotten much better over the years. They always qualify, “for a switching supply it sounds amazing!” But there is still no substitute for a full bore LINEAR POWER SUPPLY. That… would be Atoll, not Moon.

Atoll’s IN200, $2900, 100×2, uses a LINEAR power supply.

The Moon 371 uses what they call a “hybrid” power supply, which is polite for, SMPS.

Both integrateds have the same wattage rating, 100×2 into 8 ohms.

Yet I’m here to tell you, the linear power supply always sounds thicker, rounder/warmer. The Moon has a good reputation for sounding clean. So does Atoll. But again, when the rubber meets the road, I’m taking the linear supply 7 days a week. Even if Moon has a new SMPS design to brag up, it comes with a small transformer and filter caps. There is no substitute for LINEAR.

Atoll’s IN200 uses a pair of 340v toroidal transformers that it has custom built for them in Spain. Moon doesn’t reveal the size of its single transformer. When you look at photos, it’s clearly a far cry from what Atoll uses.

Atoll’s IN200 uses 60,000uF of filter capacitance. Moon doesn’t state what it uses. A look under the hood shows once again, it ain’t close. These two important factors, transformer size and filter caps- put Atoll way in the lead thus far.

Atoll uses four MATCHED MOSFET output transistors per channel. Moon uses matched bipolar output devices. MOSFETS switch 10-100 times faster than bipolars and run cooler. MOSFETS are voltage controlled. Bipolars are current controlled and need time to remove a stored charge when they switch. While both are good, I prefer Atoll’s choice.

Moon says it also matches its output transistors. That’s conscientious and beneficial. Atoll does this too. Both companies are to be commended for going to these lengths. Few others do.

Moon is pushing its MDCA error correction circuitry. They say it is more accurate than what anyone else uses. Nonetheless, it is a computer based correction circuit. We’ve heard plenty of these, including Hegel’s innovative Sound Engine design. Invariably these correction networks yield a clean, cool sound- compared to Atoll’s warm, dynamic and muscular sound.

Atoll doesn’t build a streamer into IN200. Moon does. Moon would have you believe its streamer is better than the other guys. My experience is that the SONIC differences among streaming modules is impossible to decipher. The operative word here is MODULE.

When you buy a stand alone streamer, it is a streaming MODULE, with power supply, DAC and line stage. A linear supply (here we go again) in a streamer helps it sound as good as possible. Atoll stand alone streamers have linear supplies.

Most companies that make streamers use “modules” from Stream Unlimited of Austria. They’re outstanding. The sound of the streaming component the company offers, like the Atoll MS120 for example, has more to do with its linear supplies and discrete line stage- than its streaming module.

Streamers sound different from one another due to their DACs, power supplies and other electronics. If you buy Atoll’s IN200, you’ll run your streamer into the Atoll where all the fancy audio stuff is taken care of. You can have a DAC built in IN200 for only $300. Hence I’ll recommend that most of you will be happy running a Wiim ($150) or Bluesound ($320) into the Atoll.

Atoll’s SDA200 is an IN200 with Atoll’s streamer built in. It runs $4300. If you want a one box solution- get SDA200. Yet running a Bluesound or Wiim into IN200 saves you about 8 bills. And I gotta tell you, you won’t be sure there is a difference. It’s so close.

Some streamers, like Atoll and Bluesound, work reliably. Perhaps Moon does too. There are plenty of streamers that are downright wonky.

My contention is that streamed music from an inexpensive streamer, running into an Atoll integrated with DAC, will compare with Moon or anyone else that builds its own streamer in. That’s because the Moon and most other guys, still use SMPS supplies with small transformers and filter caps. You can sneak some DIFFERENCE in sound out of a computer comparative network- but you still can’t beat doing it right with a linear supply.

The cheap streamer with Atoll is doing it all RIGHT, because the streamer will be a Stream Unlimited module feeding an Atoll integrated with dual toroids, big filter caps and MATCHED MOSFETS.

The one place Moon wins is in that it has a ten year warranty. That’s very generous. Yet there’s no question you’re paying BIG TIME for that insurance policy.

An Atoll IN200 with DAC runs $3200. Add the Wiim streamer for $150 and you’re all in for $3350. The Moon 371 runs $6500. The only place the Moon wins is in the length of its warranty.

Atoll wins in all critical assessments of how the IN200 is built. The streaming component is a wash because the infrastructure of the Atoll provides the actual sound.

Now, for the $3150 you have saved going Atoll / Wiim, please buy a FABULOUS Atoll CD player! A great CD player like an Atoll, will sound better than the same music streamed. You can buy the dynamite Atoll CD80 for $1750. Oh, and it comes with an outstanding built in DAC, so you don’t have to pay $300 for the DAC card that would go into IN200. Atoll is a smarter move no matter how you slice it.

I think well of the new Moon. They’ve gotten nice reviews. It’s made in Canada with a long warranty. They run matched transistors. Clearly they care about what they’re making. But going SMPS with small transformer and supply caps is a trade off I don’t care to make vs Atoll at half the price.

Ya can’t beat the Atoll IN200. You’ll only spend half as much and the Atoll wins in all the important performance categories.