Stereophile Tests $45k D'Augostino Monoblocks

[sarumbear]

Yes, I agree that limiting the adjustment range of the trimmer potentiometers with additional fixed resistor(s) is solid advice, but nevertheless I experienced two different defective trimmer potentiometers that simply had too much internal slop. The replacements were much tighter and maintained a solid resistance setting in the same circuit - regardless of jarring.

What happened to nail varnish, to stop the movement?

 

[BlackTalon]

Given they cost $45,000, you'd imagine there would be enough in the budget for a quick once-over before it left the factory; looking at the innards, they certainly didn't spend anything like that much on the components, though doubtless that fancy case cost a pretty penny.

The main reason they ONLY cost $45,000 is because they do not do labor-intensive things like properly testing the completed products. And they pass that savings directly to the buyers. Win-win.

 

[KSTR]

What happened to nail varnish, to stop the movement?

It happens inside the pot in the mechanism of the rotary multi-turns, so blocking the shaft does not help much.
The flat type multi-turn trimmers are much better in this regard, Spectrol Type 43 and the large Type 70 are precision classics.

 

[antennaguru]

It happens inside the pot in the mechanism of the rotary multi-turns, so blocking the shaft does not help much.
The flat type multi-turn trimmers are much better in this regard, Spectrol Type 43 and the large Type 70 are precision classics.

Precisely, it was internal slop between the drive screw and the threaded contact block/wiper that is driven up and down internally and presses against the resistive material.

I found that the generic Chinese pots that look like Bourns pots, same blue color but the name was something like Boata, had a very high defect rate (too much internal slop on many of them). Replacing them with genuine Bourns pots that I personally QC’d on the bench fixed the issue for good.

 

[voodooless]

What happened to nail varnish, to stop the movement?

For this kind of money, they can just send a dude with the amp worldwide to tune the amp at the owners home.

 

[amirm]

One thing I've noticed is that all these golden-eared audiophiles seem to love Rickie Lee Jones.

Hey, she is one of my favorites as well!

 

[SIY]

Hey, she is one of my favorites as well!

Delete your account.

 

[thefsb]

The meter seems poorly designed, it’ll spend most of its life moving barley an inch:

Mcintosh for instance knows better:

Do you think it's supposed to look like it was designed for use in 19th c. steam ships?

 

[Chrispy]

Do you think it's supposed to look like it was designed for use in 19th c. steam ships?

I prefer to think of it as of the bathroom scale design school....

 

[KSTR]

A linear scale Watt-meter is a major fail not matter how it looks like, as @MZKM showed. And it maybe shows just voltage (crudely) squared, assuming a constant impedance.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

A linear scale Watt-meter is a major fail not matter how it looks like, as @MZKM showed. And it maybe shows just voltage (crudely) squared, assuming a constant impedance.

Well, with all the mass from that heavy pointer, I wouldn't expect excellent ballistics either.

 

[Newman]

...which reminds me of a TT needle...

 

[sarumbear]

Well, with all the mass from that heavy pointer, I wouldn't expect excellent ballistics either.

Just noticed that its a linear meter. It shows in Watt, not in dB. It means you will hardly ever see the needle move. If you see it move, turn the volume down. You are hurting your ears!

Shambles…

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I prefer to think of it as of the bathroom scale design school....

or a bed pan.

 

[Galliardist]

I think the real crime here is letting a defective unit ship in this stratospheric price range. Whether it was "voiced" or has intentional euphonic colorations as some around here are guessing, I'm not so sure.

You may note that D'Augustino is often sold alongside Wilson speakers.

Two defective units, since one of the review pair and the different measured sample were both out of bias.

The factory supplied mesasurements would be interesting to see, to understand what performance they intended from their amp, but I guess that can’t happen.

 

[MaxBuck]

That steampunk design is very cool.

Not $45,000 worth of cool, but nonetheless very cool.

 

[antennaguru]

That steampunk design is very cool.

Not $45,000 worth of cool, but nonetheless very cool.

I agree it's a cool look. Maybe the Chinese will knock-off the case work and we can buy similar casework and put a real amp inside...

 

[GimeDsp]

Just noticed that its a linear meter. It shows in Watt, not in dB. It means you will hardly ever see the needle move. If you see it move, turn the volume down. You are hurting your ears!

Shambles…

I looked for it but couldn't find the reference, but this is what I read before.

From D'augistino. Customers complained that the VU meters barely moved so he kept the look but changed them so they would move a lot at low volume level. He admits the meters are just for looks now and are not accurate to the labeling.

 

[antennaguru]

I looked for it but couldn't find the reference, but this is what I read before.

From D'augistino. Customers complained that the VU meters barely moved so he kept the look but changed them so they would move a lot at low volume level. He admits the meters are just for looks now and are not accurate to the labeling.

Meters are just style points anyway...

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

I looked for it but couldn't find the reference, but this is what I read before.

From D'augistino. Customers complained that the VU meters barely moved so he kept the look but changed them so they would move a lot at low volume level. He admits the meters are just for looks now and are not accurate to the labeling.

Wonderful.