D'Agostino Momentum Preamp/Stereo Amp Home Demo
 

My local dealer/friend asked a favor of me. He has a couple of customers who are interested in Ayre R Twenty Series gear and wanted to audition on Wilson Alexia's. He has the Alexia's in his showroom, but did not have the Ayre R Series, so he asked if we could swap my Ayre KXR/MXR Twenty's for his D'Agastino Momentum Preamp/Stereo Amp for a few days. Of course I said no problemo!

I've always wanted to hear DAg gear on my speakers. I haven't heard too many speaker and gear combos to have clearly defined opinions on the differences gear combinations provide... only lots of reading. Well, I can definitely hear a difference in the DAg gear on my speakers compared to my Ayre gear. To "my ears", the DAg Momentums opened up my SF Amati Futura's. I've always loved my speakers, but have only heard with Ayre gear. The Ayre R Twenty gear sounds amazing with my speakers, but I've aways longed for just a little bit more detail in the mid-high freq. range and the DAg's are providing it. I was amazed that I could hear the difference immediately. My Sonus Faber Amati Futura's finally sound like I want them to.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Ayre Twenty gear and actually think "to my ears" it sounds BETTER than DAg gear on Wilson Alexia speakers. I finally have first hand experience comparing gear combinations and can say without a doubt "to my ears" I prefer the DAg/SF Amati Futura combo and the Ayre/Wilson Alexia combo.

I have the DAg gear for a few more days and will continue to listen and evaluate, but for now these are my brief thoughts. This is so fun!


https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...3&d=1483798206



https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...4&d=1483798226



https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...5&d=1483798243

Glenn, that gear looks amazing! I really like the black finish. I'm going to pick up the W20 today. I wonder if I'll see you Ayre gear with the Wilsons? Happy New Year!

Glenn, Those DAg looks amazing, the copper / black combo combined with your furniture simply looks stunning. And i am sure it also sound stunning :) .
Have never had the opportunity to hear them myself, but would of course love to.
Happy listening and from your description i think you should make a swap :)
Flemming

Thanks Dave! Yes, you will see my Ayre gear there with the Wilson Alexia's. I suggest you take the opportunity to have a listen. Who knows I may see you there.

Congrats on picking up your W20 today. You're going to love it!

Glenn
When I brought home a demo pair of Mometum's I did not anticipate the differences they were going to make with the MBL 111F's I owned at the time. I set them up as you can see in the photo below and powered up the system. After the first couple of tracks I went back and re-connected my 1.2k's because I thought I must have had the Mac's connected wrong, possibly out of phase. Nope, the Momentum's sounded that much better and handled the load of the MBL's with better grip. It was long after that the call to my dealer occurred. Until that day I had been happy with my 1.2ks.

Flemming, yes the DAg gear looks and sounds amazing with my speakers. Such great balance and just enough more detail and resolution compared to my Ayre. But again, I think it's just a better combo with my speakers. The real question is going to be what is the better combo I prefer (DAg/SF or Ayre/Wilson).

Here's a picture of my Ayre gear.

I hear ya Jim! Glad you are still pleased with your decision moving to D'agostino. I was getting close to upgrading to Wilson Alexia's with my Ayre gear, but now I need to slow down a bit and give moving to DAg and keeping my speakers some consideration. My dealer also has a brand new pair of SF Il Cremonese in his showroom that he would probably let me demo with this DAg gear. I can't help but think how amazing that combo would sound.

Glenn , thats af course also possible to switch the speakers :) and i follow you on it will depend on which combination sounds best to your ears.
Your Ayre also looks good, but have to admit i like the look of DAg better , just me.
The Songs Fabers colour is really looking awesome.

Flemming

Glenn, you won't hear me knocking Ayre gear. I was using the KX-R as a pre until I could afford the Momentum pre-amp. There are some aspects of the engineering and function that I like better on the Ayre, but as a whole the paring of the D'Agostino gear just works. I am sure the Ayre 20 Series competes nicely against most the of top lines out their.

Very nice and comfortable listening area. The DAgs look amazing. I wish there were more dealers if high-end equipment near me.