I did listen to it at length at The Sound Environment in Omaha. It looked downright sexy in black with the copper heat sinks. The volume control has such a great feel to it that you want to play with it even when it is off.
The sound had such a purity and ease to it with dimension and roundness to the imaging. I want one but just can't afford it.
I was in the store on Saturday and was told how the owner got cranky when he came into the room and heard the system with some Electrocompaniet Nemo amps. The owner ragged at the salesman while they were setting up the speakers as to why he made the choice of interconnects after listening for a few minutes. That afternoon the D'Agostino integrated came back from the factory. They unboxed it and put it into the system. Stone cold right out of the box it was apparent why the owner was cranky about the sound he heard. It was that stark the differences between the D'Agostino and the rest. |
Thanks Jwmazur for your input.
Do you think it is worth putting that much money in an integrated ?
Is the sound really worth 45000 $ ?
At the moment i'm looking into the Mcintosh MA8000 or the ASR Emitter II Exlusive but was curious about the D'agostino integrated.
Might be the best integrated out there to date but at 45000 $ i think you'd rather go separates. |
to Jwmazur,
I am an Electrocompaniet dealer and I am curious to the rest of the system those amps were hooked up to.
We use the Electrocompaniet AW 400 mono blocks with a Conrad Johhson ART preamp with Enklein cables on the KEF Blades and the sound is extremely good and at 400 watt per channel with one of the best preamps in the world it is a combo that sells for $34,000.00 plus one good interconnect which is still less money with tons of power for still less money! |
I recently purchased Dan's integrated which replaces a Stone Age (but still very viable) Jeff Rowland 8T and BAT VK-51SE. I have heard Dan's separates, but I can't fairly make a comparison since the rooms and associated equipment were vastly different. For lovers of "industrial art" the D'Agostino products are gallery worthy. When I purchased mine, I jokingly said I would love to buy the guts of the device wrapped in Aluminum foil for half the price. But, true confession, it really is a pleasure to use such a well-machined product. Every dial, knob, button is precision crafted.
As for the SQ, I can't rank it with other topflight comps since my audition conditions/ associated equipment have been different. I will say this- no buyer's remorse! I was a self-professed tube lover. With Dan's integrated I don't miss them. I bet most blindfolded listeners would not be able to tell if it is SS or tube-based; it provides the best of both without the stereotypical features of either. Playback is effortless with my somewhat-demanding Rockport Aviors. I'll skip the reviewer-style specifics. This is a topflight machine! Are there better ones out there? Probably. But as impossible/impractical as it is for any of us to compare all of our product candidates- in our own listening room with our own associated equipment is- it's hard to imagine missing anything while enjoying this one. Gotta go, back to the music! With no vested interest- the D'Agostino is amazing. |
My tastes lean towards tubes, but at RMAF this integrated driving the Wilson Duet II monitors was one of my favorite rooms of all. The sound was simply sublime. |
Is a $54000 amp 54 times better sounding than a $1000 amp? |
David99, we ALL know its not a linear relationship. You know this, I know this, all know this. This non-linear relationship holds true in most things we can purchase. But you know this already. |
David 99, Of course it is not. I was reading the new absolute Sound and Robert Harley was doing a review on the new Constellation amp and pre-amp. He said that it is almost as good as the top of the line Constellation and it cost 93% less. |
Having heard the Pre and power amp with wilson Alexia at a small local show, I can imagine how good the Momentum integrated is. That demo was absolutely the best sound I have ever heard, lightening fast but no trace of edge, massive soundstage, well layered and pinpoint imaging. Close your eyes and it sounded like the best tube system you have ever heard, in a good way.
I can imagine the integrated is not far behind, with a difference, I probably could'nt detect anyway.
If you can't afford it and who can, who is'nt a Hedge Fund Manager, I heard a similar sound to the D'Agostino separates, in the same room, with the same speakers, with the Dartzeel integrated. That is a much more managable price, at least second hand, for me. Not as good of course, but the same detailed but liquid sound. |
Please let me respond to David99's query as to whether a $54k product is 54x better than a $1000 product. The Mona Lisa would probably never leave the Louvre, but would you prefer to see it hang on your wall or perhaps thousands of inkjet prints of its likeness? Or maybe a googolplex of them? Fine art may be priceless and perhaps a poor "value" but crap is crap! |
I don't how it sounds, but it costs almost double the Dartzeel and Vitus- almost 50k for an integrated seems excessive, period. |
Please let me respond to David99's query as to whether a $54k product is 54x better than a $1000 product. The Mona Lisa would probably never leave the Louvre, but would you prefer to see it hang on your wall or perhaps thousands of inkjet prints of its likeness? Or maybe a googolplex of them? Fine art may be priceless and perhaps a poor "value" but crap is crap! Not a good analogy... There is only one Mona Lisa and there will only ever be one. However a $54k integrated amp, there will be as many made as buyers want. I'm sure Dan would happily ramp up and turn out millions of these bad boys if he could. For $54k you could get some really impressive separates and buy some 1 of a kind art to put in front of them if they are not as pretty as the D'agostino amp. You could also probably hire one of the great amp designers to build you a one off that would rival this. I'm not sure what exotics are in there but they better be really really impressive to justify the price. Of course if you feel it is justified, go ahead. We all buy products that sell for 100s of times more than they are really worth. |
I would only say this, if you are considering a 50K integrated why would you ask anyone for their opinion? In that price strastophere there is no substitute for listening first hand even if not with your speakers. On a further note before consideration is whether or not the speaker/amp interface would be suitable. The Thiels require current and plenty of it to be driven adequately. |
I heard the D'Agostino monoblocks and preamp driving a pair of Wilson Alexia's. They sound refined and powerful, and I can see how some would ascribe a tube-like sound in the way that some Rowland amps can sound tube-like, but I (personally) prefer the more neutral, organic sound of Vitus Signature Series amps. The Vitus integrated operates in pure Class A and sounds a bit more 'romantic' than the SS-102. Another advantage of the Vitus is, they have a super cd player to match the integrated for synergy, whereas D'Agostino does not. Just another option worthy of consideration. |
I was fortunate to sit down and listen to the momentum separates on Wilson Alexandria XLF's with all Transparent cabling. I have owned tube gear in the past and it indeed sounded more tube like than solid state. It also gave out and such a glorious huge soundstage. I was told a rumor of course by the dealer that Dan is releasing home theater gear and lower priced components. Has anyone else heard the same? I would love to have his Prepro and amps in my system. |
