AudioAficionado.org - Dan D'Agostino site visit

After RMAF, my wife and I spent some time in Moab, Utah, and, like Ed, a few days in Sedona before heading to Scottsdale for a business meeting. On the way to Scottsdale, we stopped off at Dan D'Agostino's facility. We were warmly welcomed by Bill McKiegan (president), Dan, his wife Pietra, and 2 German Shepherds. Bill and Dan showed us around, and then later, while Bill, Dan and I talked audio, Pietra and my wife talked dogs:yes:

Since a group of us had just been to Boulder's operation during RMAF, this was an interesting comparison. The Boulder facility is larger, they do their own case machining, and the building is what I can only describe as more "high-gloss" and perhaps a bit more professional-seeming - glass front, formal reception area, incredibly sophisticated listening room, Kanban system, and so on.

The overall impression when first seeing D'Dagostino's operation is of a smaller, family- and people-oriented, friendly shop. The front entrance opened right into the production area, so that I even asked if we were at the right entrance. Everything is open, and Pietra came from her desk to greet us when we came in. I mean absolutely nothing disparaging to Boulder by saying this, but the atmosphere at D'Agostino vs Boulder was similar to how I think of their sounds: warm and inviting versus neutral and a bit dry. I'm also a sucker for a dog-friendly workplace:yes:

Here's the front of the building. I didn't ask, but I assume the Ferrari is Dan's.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0128-XL.jpg

Inside, the facility looks to be about 10,000 square feet, with various workstations doing assembly, testing, design, etc. Here are a few facts about the business Bill shared with us:

- 18 employees

- production of approx. 70 units per month (from this I would estimate their revenues at about $25-30m per year - pretty good for the square footage and number of employees.)

- casework is machine in Colorado Springs.

- approx. 55% of their business is exports, the majority to Asia.

- largest export market is China, followed by Thailand. Bill said they have a very active dealer there.

- They do well in the Netherlands, but in general the European market is not as strong for them due to the economy and also high import costs, which put them at a disadvantage to high-end European brands like Burmeister.

A few more pictures:

Momentum amps under construction:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0112-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0113-XL.jpg

Classic 3s under construction - these are a set of 3 x 3 channel amps being delivered to Definitive Audio in Seattle for a home theatre installation that will be tri-amped across the front:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0114-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0115-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0116-XL.jpg

Progression - Bill said one of the big cost differences between the Progression and Momentum was the cost of copper vs aluminum heatsinks. The copper dissipates heat more effectively, which allows a smaller case, but at a cost.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0117-XL.jpg

Dan with Momentum HD Preamp:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0118-XL.jpg

M-Life - the Momentum integrated with built-in streaming and dac. The dac chip is outsourced. Dan said he has no plans to develop their own dac technology.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0119-XL.jpg

Momentum pre and power supply casework:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0120-XL.jpg

This is Dan's prototype and his personal phono stage, which he said they occasionally send out for audition. Note the turntable, an old Sanyo - Bill said they deliberately use this old table for testing because it's very noisy. Also you can see a dCS dac, although I don't recall which model.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0121-XL.jpg

Work in progress:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0124-XL.jpg

Stromtanks - Bill and Dan are pretty high on these:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0125-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0126-XL.jpg

The listening room, which is also their conference room. As Ed reported in his visit, it's still a work in progress. There's an incredible chandelier, which we all agreed was pretty cool - they plan to move it to the main fabrication area where there's a section of high ceiling. The speakers are YG (don't know which model). Dan said YG needed an amp and they need a speaker so they did a trade. There was no equipment hooked up, but Dan said the acoustics were surprisingly good due to the shape of the room and the sloped ceiling. They have no plans to rebuild the room into an extreme acoustically isolated space, they like the idea of evaluating their equipment in more real-world conditions. Apparently much evaluation is also done in Dan's home.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Dan-D-Ago...MG_0127-XL.jpg

I was also showed the casework for the new Progression integrated being introduced later this year, but Bill said I was the first consumer to see this and asked me not to share photos.

Overall this was a very enjoyable visit. Dan, Bill and Pietra were all very welcoming and open, the work atmosphere was relaxed and positive, the facility was clean and organized, and it was clear much attention is paid to quality. It's nice to be able to see how my equipment is made, it increases the enjoyment and sense of connection to the people who make it.