Dan D'agostino Momentum Integrated amp

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.