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D’Agostino Inc. Ready For Its Closeup

Weston, Conn. – Dan D’Agostino Inc.,
having just shipped its first audio component, will promote the product through
dealer events in the coming weeks while developing two more products.

The company’s first component, the
$45,000/pair Momentum monoblock amplifier, is said to combine extremely high
power output in a compact 4 inch by 12.5 inch by 18-inch chassis with low power
consumption. The amp is rated at 300 watts into 8 ohms, 600 watts into 4 ohms,
and 1,200 watts into 2 ohms but draws less than 1 watt of power in standby
mode, whereas many other high-powered amplifiers draw 100 watts or more in
standby, the company said.

 The first production run has been sold, and a
second production run is underway, the company said.

The product’s price was raised
from an initial $42,000/pair to $45,000/pair because of rising aluminum and
copper prices.

 To promote the Momentum, the company has lined
up retailers to host promotional events at which the company’s founder,
industry veteran Dan D’Agostino, will demonstrate the product. Innovative Audio
of Manhattan will host its event on April 27. HiFi House plans a May 4 event at
its Jenkintown, Pa.,
store and a May 5 event at its Wilmington,
Del., store. Seattle-based Definitive Audio Video also plans an event, a D’Agostino
spokesperson said.

 In the U.S., the company has six dealers so
far, including Music Systems of Doral, Fla., and JS Audio of Bethesda, Md., and the company is in talks with additional
dealers. The company also has 22 international distributors.

 The company chose the U.S. dealers based on
“their passion for the world’s finest audio products, and for their ability to
demonstrate the full capabilities of these amplifiers,” D’Agostino said.

To go with the amp, D’Agostino
plans to add two preamps to the Momentum line. One is designed for the purist
audiophile and is targeted for June shipment. It will be an analog preamp that
matches the Momentum amp in size and style, with its volume control matching
the design of the amp’s meter. The company also plans a lifestyle preamp at a
later date.

As for the current monoblock amp,
the company attributes the amp’s compact size to a cooling technology that uses
copper heat sinks, whose thermal conductivity is 91 percent greater than that
of aluminum, making it possible to use smaller heat sinks, the company said.
For additional efficiency, the heat sinks use venturis instead of fins. The
venturis are 0.75 inches at the top and bottom but 0.5 inches in the middle. As
heat expands the air at the top of the venturi, the air gets pushed upward and
pulls up air in from the bottom of the venturi.

Most 300-watt monoblocks are the
size of an air conditioner, the company said, but the Momentum fits into an
equipment rack, the company said.

  Each
amp features a front power meter inspired by the design of a Breguet watch
face. The large meter and the copper heat sinks were designed to differentiate
the amp from other high-end amplifiers. No fasteners are visible from front,
back, top, or sides.

 D’Agostino co-founded high-end audio component
supplier Krell in 1980. He launched D’Agostino Inc. in 2010 after he and Krell
co-founder Rondi D’Agostino filed a lawsuit in 2009 against private-equity fund
KP Capital Partners, which purchased an equity stake in Krell in April of that
year. The two D’Agostinos allege they lost their management roles at Krell in
violation of their employment agreements.

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