By combining the finest possible analog circuitry with the precision of digital control. Every adjustment is right there on the front panel of the Momentum Phonostage, with its own LED readout. You can reach them easily, without opening up the component, without having to go into onscreen menus, and without having to fuss with DIP switches or analog controls. They practically beg you to experiment! Pushbuttons on the front precisely control gain, resistive loading for the two MC inputs, resistive and capacitive loading for the MM input, and record EQ curve.
Knowing that even the best circuitry is no better than the electricity that powers it, the Momentum Phonostage may have the cleanest AC power supply ever created for a phono preamplifier. The Momentum Phonostage uses not one, but two separate power supply components: a transformer that sits on the floor, and power rectification and regulation circuits built into the base on which the Momentum Phonostage sits. Thus, the sensitive phono preamp circuits are double-isolated from the transformer electrically, and also separated by a safe physical distance.
As an audiophile, Dan D’Agostino likes to follow his muse, changing and expanding his system in whatever way the music demands. He can’t stand it when an audio component imposes limitations on his ideas, and that’s why he gave the Momentum Phonostage enough inputs to handle multiple tonearms and even turntables. It has two moving-coil inputs and two moving-magnet inputs, each with XLR and RCA jacks, feeding XLR outputs. He also included four additional RIAA-like equalization curves for use with albums from specific record labels including London FFRR, RCA, Columbia, and Deutsche Grammophon. Truly special is that the RIAA curve and the additional label specific curves were all executed using passive circuitry. Typical designs, even high end ones, use active components that add a level of noise that Dan felt was unacceptable for a component designed for the ultimate record playback systems.
The Momentum Phonostage uses the best parts available (and Dan’s tried most of them), and employs through-hole construction for maximum possible sound quality and reliability. And as with all the other products from Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems, each Momentum Phonostage is built by hand in Dan’s Arizona factory, literally within a dozen footsteps of Dan’s desk.
Full specifications are on the Momentum Phonostage page now.
