Any music lover seriously audition D'Agostino Monoblocks and go with something else?

[still-one]

very true. It may seem that KeithR has heard neither, nor understood the hype of the then Halcro - superb measurements vs the positive musical reviews of the D'Agostino. M Colloms even states that the Mum Stereo does not measure quite as well as the EVO 402e but sounded quite a bit better

When Dan was on the Dealer Circuit discussing the Momentum mono blocks during one presentation I attended he commented that he has already proven he could design amps with great specs and many leading zeros in distortion. His goal with the Momentum's was to make them sound great and not be overly concerned with how they measured.

I wouldn't make too many buying decisions based on what I hear in any audio store or show. Based auditions at my dealer I was not going to purchase his mono blocks. After fifteen minutes in my set-up I knew they were staying.

 

[XV-1]

When Dan was on the Dealer Circuit discussing the Momentum mono blocks during one presentation I attended he commented that he has already proven he could design amps with great specs and many leading zeros in distortion. His goal with the Momentum's was to make them sound great and not be overly concerned with how they measured.

I wouldn't make too many buying decisions based on what I hear in any audio store or show. Based auditions at my dealer I was not going to purchase his mono blocks. After fifteen minutes in my set-up I knew they were staying.

very true, at this level how it sounds in your system is all that matters. took me a little more than 15 minutes thou to make my mind up

 

[devilboy]

MadFloyd,

I heard the D'Agostino amps in three systems in three different rooms in Overture Audio about one year ago. The first room had the "middle" level Wilson speakers (whatever they're called), the second had the Alexandria Wilsons and the third had the Sashia speakers. All three rooms had ARC digital and preamps. All three rooms had the D'Agostino monoblocks. All three rooms had Transparent cables. The first two rooms absolutely sucked. It made me wonder if they actually listened to the systems before they demoed them. Horrible. In the third room, from the moment my friend and I heard the first four notes of a Chopin cello sonata played through the cheapest-of-the-three Sashias, we looked at each as if to say, "ah, now THAT sounds nice".

It's amazing how three rooms with the same products sounded so different. Not to mention the best (actually only good sounding) room was the cheapest.

 

[joeinid]

very true, at this level how it sounds in your system is all that matters. took me a little more than 15 minutes thou to make my mind up

Probably even less for me. The D'Agostino amp(s) and preamp are just outstanding. They make my TADs sing.

 

[devilboy]

Btw, I heard the D'Agostino monoblocks and preamp on another system a little while ago, and I must say, it was one of the best sounds of any system I've ever heard. For anyone with pockets deep enough, I highly recommend giving them a listen. Truly outstanding products. That's why I'm so confused as to why the other two systems in Overture sounded so bad. As always, could have been the room, source material, etc.

 

[murrayp]

With no chance to seriously audition the Momentums I bought a pair last Xmas based exclusively on the glowing reviews - how could I go wrong? Well, apparently in number of ways, but fortunately the dealer was truly fair and accepted them back. In short I found them to produce a rather warm rendition with (too) stunning mids. Treble I found rather soft, and true extended bass control missing in action. I have two speaker systems - JBL Everest (bass control issues were below their range anyway) and TAD CR1s (room bass lock where it exists on the recording was missing). I guess I like absolute control and in retrospect should have noted the relatively high output impedance as a warning sign for me. Yes I can see how others would love these amplifiers - especially anyone coming from a PP valve background. But they were not for me. For reference neither was a 3 box ASR Emitter I Exclusive, nor Pass X350.5 in my background here to name two others which didn't have absolute bass control. A Burmester 911 did have tight control but I found just too hard in the treble long term. I tried a friends Halcro DM-58s here and I can say in my opinion they are wonderful amplifiers - if you heard hard and cold it was what they were being fed or power cables perhaps - they are quite excellent amplifiers in my taste. I've ended (hah!) up with a Soulution 710. It is liquid, clear, extended, controlled and rather beautiful to listen to (as I am now / JBLs). Yet there too I hear much (I suspect theorised) criticism of the 710 not possibly being "any good" due to too much feedback - well get over it!
Again it is a matter of taste - one who loves his Momentums will probably not like the Soulution 710 - that's life ;o) Most important I think is to understand what it is you like and want, 2nd most is to understand what it is the amplifiers are targeted to do - for instance the Solutions are clearly not targeted at all the same way as the Momentums. No, not everyone likes the Momentums either.

 

[joeinid]

Congratulations Murry! I can only imagine how the TADs sound with the Soulution 710, by all accounts an amazing amp. It's knowing what we like, right or wrong, and enjoying the music.

 

[MadFloyd]

I got to hear the Momentums last week at Fidelis in NH. Dan D'Agostino was there and heard his preamp plus the stereo amp driving the Wilson Alexias. They sounded very good. I mostly only heard classical, but got to hear a bit of Nat King Cole and one other jazz tune. Piano and strings sounded very good, very crisp and detailed. Unfortunately I didn't hear any rock so I can't attest to how the system would sound with drums & bass, electric guitars etc. I did not hear any peakiness in the treble region; it was very smooth sounding.

 

[caesar]

I got to hear the Momentums last week at Fidelis in NH. Dan D'Agostino was there and heard his preamp plus the stereo amp driving the Wilson Alexias. They sounded very good. I mostly only heard classical, but got to hear a bit of Nat King Cole and one other jazz tune. Piano and strings sounded very good, very crisp and detailed. Unfortunately I didn't hear any rock so I can't attest to how the system would sound with drums & bass, electric guitars etc. I did not hear any peakiness in the treble region; it was very smooth sounding.

Bump!

Anything new on this topic after a couple of years of dormancy?

 

[asiufy]

caesar,

We just have the D'Agostino integrated in the store (monoblocs are coming), but it's plenty for the YG Sonja 1.3s, a very tough load by all accounts. I didn't find them lacking in the bass department, actually, they're stunning, all the way to the mid-bass range. Very full bodied sound! The lower octaves on a piano sound very realistic, with a lot of weight. And since it's an extremely fast amp, it has all the dynamics of the real thing.

As for the Soulution, it's a very, very different design, with heavy use of feedback, as opposed to the D'Agostinos. All that feedback will give you extraordinary bass control indeed, but some people found that it also detracted from the mid, and specially, high frequencies.

In a nutshell, two different products, for two different audiences

 

[MadFloyd]

I did end up trying the Dag stereo amp in my home for a couple days (I had Alexias at the time) and found them to be very thin sounding. At the time I was used to tube electronics and this is probably when I had an isolation transformer that wasn't up to the task of driving solid state amps - in other words, the thin sound could have been improper electricity (I experienced the same issue when I switched from my tubes to Pass gear).

I would like to try the Dag amp(s) again someday.

 

[caesar]

I did end up trying the Dag stereo amp in my home for a couple days (I had Alexias at the time) and found them to be very thin sounding. At the time I was used to tube electronics and this is probably when I had an isolation transformer that wasn't up to the task of driving solid state amps - in other words, the thin sound could have been improper electricity (I experienced the same issue when I switched from my tubes to Pass gear).

I would like to try the Dag amp(s) again someday.

Thanks, Madfloyd. I have been busy and have not followed every thread, but I hope you got your Magicos singing.

And since you would be in the know, did the new design really shift to a darker tonal balance?

 

[caesar]

caesar,

We just have the D'Agostino integrated in the store (monoblocs are coming), but it's plenty for the YG Sonja 1.3s, a very tough load by all accounts. I didn't find them lacking in the bass department, actually, they're stunning, all the way to the mid-bass range. Very full bodied sound! The lower octaves on a piano sound very realistic, with a lot of weight. And since it's an extremely fast amp, it has all the dynamics of the real thing.

As for the Soulution, it's a very, very different design, with heavy use of feedback, as opposed to the D'Agostinos. All that feedback will give you extraordinary bass control indeed, but some people found that it also detracted from the mid, and specially, high frequencies.

In a nutshell, two different products, for two different audiences

I have always really liked the D'Agostinos. But I am surprised their integrated is able to drive the YGs. Please report back when you get the mono blocks.

 

[MadFloyd]

Thanks, Madfloyd. I have been busy and have not followed every thread, but I hope you got your Magicos singing.

And since you would be in the know, did the new design really shift to a darker tonal balance?

If you're referring to the M-Projects versus the Q, I think so but I never owned the Q (only the S) so I can't be sure. As for them singing, I started a thread in the Member's Gallery about my system:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?17764-Madfloyd-s-System

 

[Kippyy]

I auditioned the D'ag stereo amp with my Alexias, and went with stereo Burmester 911Mk3 instead. There was a huge gap in weight and oomph between the two. Hope that helps.

 

[Steve Williams]

I have always really liked the D'Agostinos. But I am surprised their integrated is able to drive the YGs. Please report back when you get the mono blocks.

I was in their store and can attest to the fact that they drove the big Sonja with ease

 

[Rocco I.]

I auditioned the D'ag stereo amp with my Alexias, and went with stereo Burmester 911Mk3 instead. There was a huge gap in weight and oomph between the two. Hope that helps.

Hi. I recently experienced as yours the same situation in a different set-up. I attended about a month ago in a friend of mine to the direct comparison A/B with Dan D'Agostino Momentum monos (with Dan D'Agostino preamp) Vs Burmester 911 Mk3 monos (with Burmester preamp 088) driving the Magico Q5. With Burmester combo the sound dramatically increased dynamics and the level of background noise dropped precipitously with more refined, better musicality, natural and correct timbre, more spacious and precise soundstage, more body, more controlled and extended in all the frequencies from bottom to the top end. Great Burmester.