Weighing 95lb, it is smaller and lighter than its entry-level sibling, the more powerful, 125lb Progression M550 Mono amplifier ($47,500/pair), and is veritably dwarfed by some other monoblocks, including the flagship D'Agostino Relentless Epic 1600 (5701b) and the Karan Acoustics POWERa mono (231lb), which I reviewed last month. But if the M400 MxV's rock-solid look and feel and its exquisite aesthetics-a sleek amalgam of silver and copper fronted by a power meter that glows green and radiates Rolex quality-are any indication, a helluva lot is going on beneath its showy exterior.
Once I took a listen, I discovered sound so smooth and satisfying that the refrain "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm / After they've seen Paree," from a WWIera song about soldiers not wanting to return to their family farms after experiencing big city life in Paris, kept playing on repeat in my head.
Direct from Cave Creek
What kind of amplifier is this that distracted me so from watering the cows and milking the chickens? D'Agostino's website² offered a few clues. The Momentum M400 MxV is hand built; it includes discrete, direct-coupled, balanced circuitry and boasts a "new, ultra-quiet 2200VA linear transformer" with a winding scheme that is said to reduce the hysteresis effect by 90%, minimizing power and thermal loss. The new winding method also plays a role in increasing current capability by more than 50% and "offer[ing] greater headroom during dynamic passages," which is surely aided by a bank of nearly 100,000μF of supply capacitance. All that adds up to potential output power of 400, 800, and 1600W into speaker loads of 8, 4, and 2 ohms, respectively.
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INSTANTLY ICONIC
AUDIO SALON HOST/ENTREPRENEUR/SYSTEM AND FASHION DESIGNER DEVON TURNBULL'S RECORD-BREAKING ART OF NOISE SHOWING AT SAN FRANCISCO MOMA.
Buckeye PURIFI EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA1
Back in 2016,' I documented the rise of class-D amps using the early Tripath technology. Used in the Bel Canto eVo 200.2, TriPath cracked open the door to the High End but was never admitted due to a dim and opaque treble.
Moon 891
No less than eight boxes, powered by six after-market power cables, comprise my current reference front-end.'
Clearaudio Signature
The Clearaudio allowed each mix, each sonic artifact, to reveal its unique character.
Gryphon Audio Designs Diablo 333
What's in a name? Denmark-based Gryphon Audio Designs laid down a marker when company founder Flemming Rasmussen chose that name in 1985. Browsing through the current Stereophile Recommended Components list, I only found one other manufacturer that utilizes an animal moniker.
The Rega Naia Turntable. Add Lightness.
To watch as Rega very slowly expands its turntable offerings upmarket requires the patience of a Thomas Pynchon addict waiting for each new tome from the notoriously slow-working and reclusive author.
Phono Preamplifier Seduction
Give me the seduction, give me the pleasure,\" Ron Sutherland was nearly shouting into the phone. \"I want to turn off the analytical mind and just enjoy myself!\"
Record Player Revelations
Like romance or car racing, the act of playing records is tactile by design. Like drifting through curves or making out, spinning vinyl is a learned skill that requires users to touch everything with practiced assurance.
Taking Care of Business
As Jim Austin wrote in this space in the December 2024 issue, following a medical procedure that he had in mid-October, he needed to take several weeks' leave to recuperate. He delegated the magazine's production to Managing Editor Mark Henninger, AVTech Editorial Director Paul Miller, and myself. The three of us worked with copy editor Linda Felaco and longtime art director Jeremy Moyler to produce the issue you hold in your hands.
Estelon X Diamond Mk II
Taste is a funny thing. Love cilantro? Millions swear it tastes like soap.
