The sound
Contents
We listened to the MOON Voice 22 in our study. This is because we primarily had a lot of other gear in the main listening room. However, another factor is that this is a fairly compact two-way monitor. A 20m2 room is then more suitable than a 50m2 room that is also acoustically treated and somewhat damped. Then we would most likely have to play too loud for this speaker, which would not be fair.
Placement of the MOON Voice 22 is not critical. We placed them a little more than half a meter from the back wall, gave a little toe-in and then plopped down in the nice, easy chair. It plays really well very quickly already…. It must be said: the MOON Voice 22 is an excellent match for the MOON ACE. The little amp drives them without any effort and the characters match very well. Not a shred of harshness, but a wonderfully relaxed reproduction with a pleasant warmth in the mid/bass. This relaxed reproduction is – fortunately – not at the expense of reproduction of important details. It certainly does not overwhelm you with every sigh buried deep in the recordings. But during our listening sessions, we didn’t miss a thing.
Balance
For example, when we put on Royksopp Profound Mysteries – still a delicious album – we still hear the various layers and get enough space information to get nicely into the music. By the way, we are also struck by how nice the ACE sounds. What a fine all-in-one this is!
Switching to some tasty “Mammal Hands,” we again hear a relaxed, yet powerful and rhythmic rendering of piano playing with jazz influences. Surely it is a clever and pleasant balance that MOON has found here. It is not ultra-fast, but manages to strike a fine balance between enough resolution and relaxed playback.
Our TADs do the same in a sense: it gives a lot of insight without being immediately overwhelming. And we estimate that many people like that.
Is the MOON Voice 22 an omnivore? Yes… we estimate that it is. We’ve played metal, classical, pop and electronic music – and a lot of Internet radio – and we haven’t found anything crazy.
As a duo, the MOON ACE and Voice 22 just know how to reproduce everything nicely: no edges, no sharpness, no splash…. Or as we might also put it, “No drama.” Lovely.
Competition
So how does this MOON Voice 22 compare to the competition? A direct competitor is the new Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3, but we haven’t had a chance to hear it properly yet. What we do know for sure is that it will play fresher than this Voice 22. The recently tested Xavian Corallo is 2100 a pair. That also plays a little less round and full. Although that was also a very nice speaker. Neat Acoustics Ministra is around 2500 Euro. Also very nice. ATC has the SCM19 V2. Very nice, but slightly trickier bass.
The competition is serious in this class. But we think MOON just comes along with its relaxed and pleasant reproduction.
