It's been 7 months since I put the Moscode 300 in my system to compare to the Moscode 401HR.
This was one of those repair it or junk it decisions. But when George Kaye described a "double" mosfet option, I decided to gamble the extra bucks on upgrades, and the "in for a penny, in for a pound" decision. This led to
much more investment than planned, a frustrating relationship with George (sloths move faster), and a real question about whether investing $$ in a "backup" amp was wise. I still don't know it was wise, but I have absolutely no regrets about the investment.
The short version is that the old 300 is still driving my LS9's. It's not that it's better than the 401HR, but months and months later, the 401 HR is still sitting on the shelf not hooked up. Now some of that is related to my listening habits-- I'll go through slumps where I don't put on an lp for weeks. But the truth is, this amp has precision, soundstage, and BALLS that it didn't have before. The 401 HR still goes into service in the main system, but I'll change it out occasionally. And when I do, the little 300 stays longer that expected.
When I picked up the 401, it was because I was chasing the first of three amps to come up used/cheap. I was looking for a Dodd 120, or a McCormack 500, or the 401HR... all recommended by guys that had the same speakers that I had. At the time I was using the old 300, and it didn't quite have the control and nuance I was looking for to match with such huge speakers. The 401 came in at a deal, and I never looked back. Much later I had hooked up the 300 to find it motor boating (not tube related). Gary D had fixed it before, but this time he just wasn't able to work reliably. The amp sat... and sat... and there was no one willing to look at it in Texas.
But now... this little amp is glorious. I'd really have to say that it serves as well as it's bigger cousin. George has delivered on all of his promises that I had suspected were a bit of hype.
If you are looking for an amp with power, used 300's are out there in the $400-500 range. Add another $700 and George can make it something special.
I've always been skeptical of spending more on upgrades than the equipment cost. Dueland caps are probably amazing, but I'm not the guy to put $3000 into a $2000 speaker. But in this case, it was money well spent.
