Way back in Oct-2011, Dan's earlier Momentum preamp prototype looked like this........
........and 6 days ago, Mono and Stereo Audio Magazine posted an updated look of the Momentum preamp on their website -
MONO AND STEREO: Dan D'Agostino Momentum Preamplifier:
From what I gather from the above pics, in the updated look:
- on the right side of the faceplate, 2 rotary knobs have been added, each with a crescent-shaped indicator light above them, which presumably are the tone controls that Dan mentioned he would be adding;
- on the left side of the faceplate, instead of six buttons shown in the earlier prototype, there are now 8 buttons, and each button now has what looks like a small circular indicator light in the center of each button;
- in the center of the faceplate, the volume control ring appears to be flush with the top of the meter, but is not flush with the bottom of the meter;
- on both ends of the faceplate, the copper material/color features more prominently on the faceplate similar to that of the monoblock & stereo amps;
- the chassis appears to be wider than in the earlier prototype;
- the chassis feet are all aluminium and are also taller, which is different than the chassis feet of the monoblock & stereo amps; and
- there is some additional aluminium metal work which appears to be protruding downwards underneath at the bottom of the main aluminium chassis. Either this forms part of the underside of the aluminium chassis (which I'ed be curiously interested to know what it is) or is simply something that the preamp is resting on (which doesn't quite make sense because the preamp already has the chassis feet).
How do I feel about the aesthetics?.......Well, I can say that it's growing on me.
Personally, on first glance, just like the first time I saw the pics of the Momentum monoblock amps on the web, my reaction was "What the ?#@*&%! is this?"
. After awhile, I thought the monoblock amp pics looked kind of interesting. But after seeing the monoblock amps in person, I kept drooling and couldn't take my eyes off them
. Finally, when I got to demo the monoblock amps, I ended up getting them.
Well it appears that I seem to be starting out on this same track again. So, will see how I feel when I get to see the final production version of the Momentum preamp in person, and more importantly, how it stands up sonically to my Ayre KX-R preamp/D.D. Momentum monoblock amps pairing.
Philip