Effects of solid billet manufacturing in amplifiers

[Bruce B]

Maybe Bruce can comment if Pass Labs equipment is cheaper for their pro business side,
Orb

They offer accomodation pricing to a select few, just as all manufacturers do.

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce,

Can you articulate Herve's response?

Let's say... it was a great conversation. I learned alot.

 

[DaveyF]

I really like the look and the feel ( and of course the sound) of my Rowland model 8...over all these years it has held up beautifully and never ceases to get admiration..Sure it weighs about 90+lbs and is a little unwieldy, but it makes my ARC and most other amps i can think of, look a little silly from the construction point of view.
IMO, there is something of lasting durability if a piece of gear is made this way. Unfortunately as time goes by this method of construction gets more and more prohibitive.

 

[LL21]

The unit is gorgeous to touch and very small for its size. I wish he would put an object of known size next to his amps so that people can get a sense of scale. Otherwise, we all assume it is a monster of an amp when it comes to size.

Hi Amir,

here is an excerpt from a press release/article on D'Agostino's new venture: The new Momentum monobloc power amplifier, which will sell for $42,000 a pair, delivers 300W into 8ohms, 600W into 4ohms and 1.2kW into 2ohms, and yet is both small and energy-efficient.

D'Agostino says that while 'most 300-watt monoblocs are the size of an air conditioner, the Momentum fits easily into an equipment rack' – in fact it stands just 10cm tall, is 32cm wide and 45cm deep.

And along with its low 1W standby power consumption, the amplifier has been designed to run cooler than conventional designs, thanks to the use of copper for the heatsinks, and ventures instead of the more usual fins.

These have a 19mm opening top and bottom, narrowing to around 12mm in the centre, the expansion of the hot air at the upper opening drawing cool air in at the bottom.

The chassis is machined from a solid billet of aluminium, and the amplifier is assembled from the base so no fasteners are in evidence on the front, back, sides or top-plate.

Finishing the design is a prominent power meter inspired by Breguet watches, and bearing D'Agostino's signature.

Following soon will be a matching Momentum preamplifier, said to be 'a unique product that combines the functions of a traditional analogue preamplifier with a digital media server'.

 

[amirm]

Hi Amir,

here is an excerpt from a press release/article on D'Agostino's new venture:

Howdy! The issue I am trying to help them resolve is that the only mention I ever see is that picture. And there, there is no scale. This is especially important as they say in the press release given the fact that high-end amp is synonymous with huge enclosures.

D'Agostino says that while 'most 300-watt monoblocs are the size of an air conditioner

Now they are going overboard . An Air Conditioner? Here is the Mark Levinson 532 which is a dual mono, *400* watt amp:

http://www.marklevinson.com/ProductDetails.aspx?prdid=2

"Width: 17.5 inch" (rack size)
"Height: 8.75" (without feet)

That is not the size of an Air Conditioner. In my quick look, most Window A/Cs are 15x16 inches which is twice as tall. That said, the D'Abostino is half the size.

, the Momentum fits easily into an equipment rack' – in fact it stands just 10cm tall, is 32cm wide and 45cm deep.

Per above, the ML also fits in the rack except that it takes more height.

And along with its low 1W standby power consumption, the amplifier has been designed to run cooler than conventional designs, thanks to the use of copper for the heatsinks, and ventures instead of the more usual fins.

Now this is puzzling to me. Being the nosy type , at CES I put my hand on both running and non-running (but powered) units. They were all running quite hot. I used to repair Audio equipment for a living and our test of whether something was wrong was if a device ran so hot that if you put your hands on it or its heatsink, you couldn't keep it there. The D'Agostino was pretty close to that including the unit that was powered but not connected otherwise. If it has a standby mode, the one on display must not have had that activated.

With amps, I like to see a reliability track record especially if someone attempts to make them small as they have. I suspect these amps would do fine but I like to see a bit of mileage on it before jumping in with both feet at such high cost.

These have a 19mm opening top and bottom, narrowing to around 12mm in the centre, the expansion of the hot air at the upper opening drawing cool air in at the bottom.

I like that. It would have been much cheaper to use a drill and have the hole be the same size all the way through but likely would not have as good an air flow.

The chassis is machined from a solid billet of aluminium, and the amplifier is assembled from the base so no fasteners are in evidence on the front, back, sides or top-plate.

There we go with wasteful design again . I hope that design doesn't make it a pain to troubleshoot and repair. Don't like to just see the bottom of PC boards and not the components on top.

Following soon will be a matching Momentum preamplifier, said to be 'a unique product that combines the functions of a traditional analogue preamplifier with a digital media server'.

I see a nice trend with pre-amps with DACs in them. This is a badly needed product to help bridge people from analog/digital-transports to media servers.

 

[KeithR]

So it appears the biggest contribution of this kind of manufacturing is reducing weight from what folks are saying? so its more of an effort in machinery than sonic improvement. interesting.

I wonder if Dan saw Ayre's designs and basically decided to copycat their approach. I'm not a fan of Dan---let's just say he's not too personable. I met him at a function with Andy Singer and it was interesting to say the least. Ayre's amps at less than 1/2 the price seem like a bargain now lol....

 

[Orb]

.....

I see a nice trend with pre-amps with DACs in them. This is a badly needed product to help bridge people from analog/digital-transports to media servers.

Yeah and totally agree, nice to see Classe taking this really seriously with their new reference preamp, and at a good price.

Cheers
Orb