Thanks for sharing! certainly remarkable ! The craftsmanship put in by Dan speaks for itself.
If I was so fortunate to be able to attend that event I am not sure how everything else would measure up after that. |
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..Are these amps Class A or Class A/B?
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Are these amps Class A or Class A/B? Dan and co. never mentioned the topology, but given that they're stable and double power all the way down to a 1-ohm load (6400 W), weigh over 150 lbs. each, have 84 output transistors, and functioned as space heaters in the demo room, I'm inclined to guess Class A. If I was so fortunate to be able to attend that event I am not sure how everything else would measure up after that. That's why I always start with the Wilson room. Anything that impresses me after that has to have it going on. As it happens, I was also very impressed with the Audio Research/Magnepan 20.7 room and the McIntosh/Focal Sopra No.2 room. Personally, I liked the airy and realistic soundstage presented by the Maggie 20.7s. The Sopras were also very impressive for their output, transparency, and bass extension at $14K (same price as the 20.7s). |
Dan and co. never mentioned the topology, but given that they're stable and double power all the way down to a 1-ohm load (6400 W), weigh over 150 lbs. each, have 84 output transistors, and functioned as space heaters in the demo room, I'm inclined to guess Class A.
But it doesn't work that way. The amp is likely Class A up to some power level and impedance (as are ALL Class AB amps!), but certainly not to full power at 1 ohms -- that would mean it would have to consume and put out heat equal to a theoretical minimum of 12.8kW. Considerably more in an actual build, and very unlikely to be within the continuous AC power levels supplied to that room. Other than with single-ended class A amps (but not including pseudo push-pull types like PASS Aleph), pure class A changes to class AB when the output current goes above what the static bias level supports. So always take the "Class A" designation with a big grain of salt.
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I was also at the same event. I can't really comment on the impact of the electronic and speaker combinations except to give an overall impression of the rooms. I listened to four rooms and my favorite was the room with the Maggie 20.7s. The second best was the B&W room with the 800 D3's. The next was the Wilson room and the last was the Focal room. I think the Focal Sopra room suffered from the room itself. To me the Wilson room didn't impress me. The speakers and electronics were new and I felt the speakers were directional and had an etch in the high end. I have only heard one Wilson system that I liked at a mastering engineers facility. The Wilsons always have a grit and etch that I can't live with and in this case at $110k. Just my two cents. |
Goose, your impressions track with mine pretty well. I got to three of the four rooms you auditioned--D'Agostino/Wilson, ARC/Magneplanar 20.7, and McIntosh/Focal Sopra No.2.
I was probably making allowances for the D'Agostinos and Wilsons having no break-in, and the bass power was a bit overwhelming, but the room was relatively small. Ditto for the McIntosh/Sopra demo. Too much bass around 40 Hz, which again is probably room overload.
But the Maggies, oh, the Maggies! As soon as music came out of them my emotional center went "Aaaaaaah!" So musical, so relaxing, so involving, with a very natural and focused soundstage. When I brought my humble 1.7s home two years ago, I noticed two things right away--how quiet Maggies are compared to dynamic box speakers (with few exceptions) and how the out of phase backwave helps cancel the room boom you get with conventional speakers. No bass traps needed.
The next day I played a fair amount of music at home, and even after hearing those great systems at Music Matters, my own Maggies and tube phono and line stages kept me happy and engaged with my system.
I do intend to experiment with placement a bit (mostly widen the distance between them) to get something akin to the soundstage I heard from the 20.7s.
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Good to read that you had a fun time. I hope to attend one of these Music Matters events someday. |
I have no doubt that the Progression 800W monos were sublime! D'agostino rules!
I concur with "goose".
I continue, over and over (at least six different occasions/systems) to hear that super annoying spike on the top end of Wilson's. I keep thinking it's me, but it happens over and over. |
Dan gets props for design aesthetic, and since the demand for uber expensive stuff is seemingly bottomless he's positioned his comeback smartly. I can relate to the "back at home" comment…the few times in recent years I've visited a high end shop where I could actually listen to some pricey gear, I've come home to my more real world hybrid heap and thought, "yeah, this is good." |
How much are these amps for a pair of them? Did they the silver or the gold/black ones?
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These amplifier's are $45,000.00 for the pair, and yes, they come in black or silver, I don't believe they come in gold/black being the heat sink's are aluminum in place of copper that is on the Momentum amplifier's. Cheers |
How much are these amps for a pair of them? Did they the silver or the gold/black ones? Believe it or not, the Progression is a somewhat cost-reduced product compared to the Momentum. They don't have all that steam punk styling and massive amounts of copper. The Momentum monoblocks are $50K/pair. On March 4 at the show I was quoted $39,950 for the pair of 300W Progression monos. As I said, the sense of unfettered dynamics with that much power and current on tap was amazing. But they weren't just powerhouses. They were also as sweet and subtle as you could want. |
Dan replied on his Facebook page that these are Class A/B amps. |
The Progression mono block amplifiers I'm referring to are 800 watts per channel, did Dan come out with another Progression amplifier with less power?, I'm not aware of but one Progression amplifier model. |
On March 4 at the show I was quoted $39,950 for the pair of 300W Progression monos. --------------------------------- The Progression mono block amplifiers I'm referring to are 800 watts per channel, did Dan come out with another Progression amplifier with less power? Nope. That first quote (from my post) was a total brain-fart mis-type on my part. I meant 800w Progression monos. And at the demo Mr. D'Agostino claimed doubling all the way down to 1 ohm (6.4KW each). |
I am really enjoying the Progression monoblocks. They have revealed tiny little details in recordings I have listened to many times before and never heard. The Progression monoblocks are extremely powerful and to my ears are voiced similar to the Momentum but perhaps slightly less "liquid" in the midrange. It is amazing to hear recordings that were dynamic before be taken to another level. Vocals and instruments are so natural and when recorded well are clearly heard on the recording. Bass is beyond description especially on my Wilson Audio Maxx 3 speakers. Every instrument occupies its own individual space on orchestral recordings. Highly recommended if you are searching for complete control for any speaker and endless power along with sounding so natural and not "hi-fi" as some amps tend to be voiced |
