D'Agostino Momentum amp melts down

At a proposed price of $55K(!) and knowing full well what it was potentially going to be subjected to, I think it's test results are disappointing.

Rhljazz, what exactly is your agenda in starting this thread? Nowhere in the Stereophile article does it say anything about a melt down. The amp stopped working. It didn't melt, catch fire or explode, yet you keep using language suggesting some Chernobyl style event. You actually seem to take pleasure in the amp's malfunction. The German language has a multisyllabic word for what you're exhibiting.

My agenda is three fold. First of all there are more amps that pass the test than ones that don't. The Momentum is a 55000.00 amp that I would expect to pass the test based on price and the designers reputation.

If the amp has proper protection, it should shut down and return to normal operation after it cools down. So a defect exists whether it is a design flaw or a single product failure we don't know since the second amp was not subjected to the same test.

I have a problem with Stereophile not making a bigger issue of it and basically sweeping the result under the rug. Then there is no defense from the manufacturer which I find unusual.

The third related problem with Stereophile is the test itself. If they deem the test as not being relative to the products performance, either change or eliminate the test.

Mr. onhwy61, what words would you use to describe a product that managed to get really hot on the test bench, shut down because of it, and then failed to operate after the fact? My first thought was melt down. Maybe you can make up a politically correct term for it. LOL!

More (post) Krell bashing is what this is; the emperor has no clothes. Also, the fact that Atkinson then continued on a modified test basis completely invalidates the test, Atkinson and the publication. This is pure entertainment with absolutely no value. Frankly, I stopped reading this magazine and the other one years ago; I have better things to do with my time, like read and respond to Audiogon threads such as this one. And no one so far seems to care what the amp sounds like...hmmm.

So you admit you have a agenda! I thought so.

Since when, especially on an audiophile internet forum where sound quality is praised and measurements denigrated, did the Stereophile 1/3 power test become the keystone of amplifier quality? A failure or malfunction during this test is cause for further investigation and a manufacturer's comment. To raise it to the level of an internet forum thread bespeaks an agenda.

BTW, if you Google the word "meltdown" the first few entries all refer to nuclear power plant disasters. Your language is intentional inflammatory which I take as further evidence of your multi-pronged agenda. Have you no shame?