Dan D’Agostino, formerly the chief executive officer and founder of Krell Industries, Inc., has launched D’Agostino Master Audio Systems, a high-end-audio company that will specialize in cutting-edge electronics. The first product from his new company is a monoblock amplifier called the Momentum. He recently appeared at Innovative Audio in New York City to introduce this unique product.
The Momentum is rated at 300W at 8 ohms, 600W at 4 ohms, and 1200W at 2 ohms. Despite its high power, it is only 4" in height and is reportedly very energy efficient, drawing less than 1W of power at idle. It is machined from solid aluminum billet and is said to be the first production amplifier to use venturi-styled copper heatsinks. It also employs 28 high-speed output transistors which run at a "blistering 69MHz," thus permitting enormous bandwidth, according to D’Agostino.
The amp’s circuit board is assembled using a specialized construction process that resists heat and causes the board to be fail resistant. All resistors are metal-film units, and there are no resistors in the signal path. Also, the amp is DC coupled from input to output.
The Momentum amp is now available at select audio dealers. The U.S. retail price is $45,000 per pair. Look for an upcoming preamplifier from D’Agostino.
D’Agostino Master Audio Systems websiteCrystal Cable’s first loudspeaker was the floorstanding Arabesque, a two-way, four-driver loudspeaker that featured an all-glass, uniquely shaped cabinet. This month, Crystal Cable unveiled the Arabesque Mini at the Rotterdam HiFi Show, held in its home country of The Netherlands.
The Arabesque Mini is a two-way, stand-mounted loudspeaker featuring an all-aluminum, non-resonant cabinet inspired by the look of the original Arabesque and made by Neal Feay Company, Inc., of California, USA. Unlike the ribbon-tweeter-based Arabesque, the Mini uses a beryllium-dome tweeter that crosses over to a low-distortion woofer at approximately 1.9kHz. The crossover is a second-order design and is said to contain the highest-quality parts, including pure-silver-foil capacitors and massive Tritec air-core inductors. According to Crystal Cable, “The great advantage is a total lack of compression and saturation that would happen with normal core-based inductors. For the listener it means a very pleasing sound, from soft-played classical chamber music to the loudest rock parts.” Internal wiring is, of course, by Crystal Cable.
The European retail price for the Arabesque Mini is 12,000 euros per pair. North American pricing has not yet been established.
Monitor Audio’s first outdoor speaker was the Climate 10. After seeing success with that speaker model, the British-based company has released an entire series of Climate outdoor speakers that includes the 50 ($429/pair), 60 ($629/pair), and 80 ($799/pair), which have 5", 6", and 8" C-CAM bass drivers, respectively, as well as 1” C-CAM tweeters. The fourth model in the line, the 60T2 ($349/each), has a 6” C-CAM woofer and dual 1” C-CAM tweeters. All models are made with “all-weather” cabinets to withstand harsh environments, and come with grilles for driver protection and appropriate mounting hardware that allows for 180-degree positioning (i.e., horizontal or vertical mounting). A 15-degree wedge is also supplied to aim each speaker appropriately at the listening position.
The prices of Monitor Audio’s Climate speakers are higher than typical outdoor speakers, but so too is their quality. Monitor Audio’s goal with the Climate speakers is to provide audiophile-quality sound, even outdoors. Monitor Audio’s Climate speakers are available now.
iHome has released the iA63, an iPhone/iPad docking alarm clock with a motorized rotating dock and the ability to interface with iHome+Sleep and iHome+Radio apps. Though upgrading and replacing the iA5, the unit will maintain the same $99 price point as its predecessor.
The iA63 features include:
Motorized rotating dock to watch videos and picture slideshows in landscape mode
Plays and charges docked iPhone/iPod
Enhanced alarm clock functionality; users can wake and sleep to their iPhone, iPod or FM radio
Works with iHome+Sleep and iHome+Radio apps
Full-feature remote control works with unit, audio menus and motorized dock
The iA63 app-enhanced alarm clock FM radio stereo speaker system with motorized rotating dock for iPhone/iPod is now available at retail outlets nationwide and on iHomaudio.com. iHome+Sleep and iHome+Radio are available for download from the iTunes App Store.
Amazon.com is providing a new way for customers to store and access music files. Cloud Drive, which Amazon describes as "your personal disc drive in the clouds," stores files in Amazon’s datacenters.
The company claims that files uploaded to Cloud Drive are secure and not affected by computer crashes or theft. Amazon.com will give each registered customer 5GB of free storage, enough space to store up to 1000 MP3-type songs (less than half of that number for CD-quality or higher-resolution files). Additional storage plans are available at about a dollar per gigabyte per year (i.e., a 100GB plan costs $100 a year, on up to 1000GB).
Purchases from the Amazon.com MP3 store are stored for free and do not count against storage quotas. Customers are not restricted to music files; they can store video, photos, or any digital document.
Amazon.com is also offering Cloud Player to access and play files. It comes in two varieties: Web and Android. For the former all you will need is a computer with a Web browser; for the latter you need to download an app to your Android phone or tablet.
Amazon websiteMagico has been manufacturing high-end loudspeakers since 2004. Their newest products include the all-aluminum Q5 and Q3 floorstanding loudspeakers, as well as the soon-to-be-released stand-mounted Q1. On March 30, the SoundStage! Network team visited Magico’s two manufacturing facilities located in California, USA. The six-part report showing these locations is now available on SoundStage! Global, the SoundStage! Network’s newest website specifically designed for on-the-spot reporting from around the world.
SoundStage! Network coverage of Salon Son & Image 2011 has already begun! The team is currently in Montreal looking for products that debut there and reporting on the events as they happen. Updates will be posted on SoundStageGlobal.com throughout each day of the show, which runs from March 31 to April 3 at the Hilton Bonaventure hotel. Besides the product coverage, look for our picks for Best of Montreal 2011 and Worst of Montreal 2011!
Salon Son & Image is better known by its informal name, the Montreal Hi-Fi Show, and takes place every spring. Salon Son & Image 2011 will be held March 31 to April 3 at the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure hotel, which is located downtown and is the same location as the successful 2010 show. On March 31, the event is only open to trade personnel and press, but from April 1-3 the event is open to the public. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students.
The SoundStage! Network is well known for providing the world’s best event coverage, so our team will be in Montreal for Salon Son & Image starting March 30 in order that reports can be published every day of the show. These reports, which will include written updates as well as extensive photo galleries featuring new products that debut in Montreal, can be found on SoundStageGlobal.com starting March 31.