Interview with MSB @ Mono and Stereo
- Thread starter asiufy
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Surely not the monstrous XLF's or similar size models, but the Wilson Audio speakers up to the Sasha size are great designs - they blend perfectly in a room, enhancing the feeling and even the decoration of the room. Curiously two room designers I know prefer them to Sonus Faber or Magico's because they feel they are more discrete and they manage to integrate better in their idea of decoration.
In my campaign to downsize I have been trying to sell a pair of Magico Mini II's - a really great design. Unfortunately one friend who really wanted them was vetoed by his hife, who does not want to see them replacing a pair of Wilson/Puppies in red Ferrari. I must agree with her - the Wilson's look really great in their living room.
True, I do think about aesthetics a lot.
Think of it this way, some people like fast cars. They will buy them regardless of what they look like or how comfortable they are. On the other hand there are people who like fast cars but want a more complete experience and thus will only buy a fast car if it fits their notion of design and also comfort level while they're driving it. They might even go so far as to pick a car which fits well with their overall lifestyle image, for example the kind of house they have.
A Ferrari or a Jaguar in a driveway looks better and fancier than a formula 1 racing car even though it's faster. The question now is which would thou prefer. Me, I'd be the guy who picks the classier choice. Might not be the fastest guy on the block, but at least I got class.
Cheers.
Wilson?? I have owned many Wilson products and I would hardly use Wilson as an example for what "modular design" should look like at least as far as I'm concerned. I do not find Wilsons to be attractive in the least but then again I rarely if ever buy audio equipment based on looks. I had a DAG S250 in my house for a few months on trial and loved the look and the look even enhanced the sound, until I got an extended trial with, IMHO, a much better sounding albeit not as "gorgeous looking" CH Precision M1.
As to the MSB stuff, I find my Select to be a very nice looking piece and as to the "modularity" the best part of it is that those modules are hidden. As to the questions of did they plan for the future, I have been an MSB customer now for over 5 years and wish all other companies planned for and offered its current and prior customers the upgrade paths MSB does.
I actually used them, and AT as an example of nice fit and finish, not modularity. Also, take a look at Steinway-Lyngdorf.
I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to audio equipment. The ONLY piece of equipment I ever had in my house that my wife ever saw and said, "wow what is that" was when I was auditioning in home, the D'Ag S250.
Not looking to argue but I just don't get wowed by the fit and finish of Wilson. Never did and still don't. Nevertheless, I understand why so many do. I can also understand why some of us find a somewhat "sterile" look of the MSB to be nice and others don't. Again, I will stress I will take the ugliest looking stuff if it sounds better as my listening room is strictly that and I really don't care so much about looks. My CH Precison is a big block of aluminum very much like the Soulutions which my wife never said "wow what is that" but did say why did you get rid of the other (D'Ag 250)
Yes, like I said this is an audiophile forum so we choose sound first then everything else. That's why I'd also choose based on sound not the look of the product, I'm just saying that it would be great if you could have both.
Looks are as subjective as the sound. I know a lot of people like the look of d'agostino, but I think the protruding circle thing on the front is too much. It invites one to turn it...and his units look like scales...and I don't want to be thinking about anyone's weight or how much I ate during the day when I turn on my system...
The soulutions, on the other hand, are minimalist perfection! Simply breathtaking for those who love modern. Their amps won the coveted red dot design award for that reason.
With that said, dagostinos are fabulous sounding amps, while solution needs a tonally rich system to shine.
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Sound quality aside, biggest issue with the Dags is Dan built them intentionally with form over function. Says alot about this hobby. It probably costs 2x what using normal materials would cost.
Remember Keith, most a’philes buy with their eyes and not their ears, Dan very well knows this!
I don't see material costs actually having a straight relation to D'Agostino prices. They're plain outrageous for the Momentum vis-a-vis material costs. Having said that, the M400 is worth every penny considering the performance.
That's what I am saying - his prices seem to be whatever the market will bear, no real relationship to material costs. Even at $65k, the music lover in me still feels the M400 is worth the cost (but the logical part of me will never accept the price).
Many times form is strongly connected with sound quality. The mechanical and thermal behaviors of the hardware are critical in many designs. These great sounding designs are extremely tuned - just neglecting or disregarding a small aspect can ruin the final result. This is high-end!
I was at the presentation of the Momentum's upgrade at our distributor several years ago. Dan Agostino was there and during a quarter of an hour he explained us how he designed them, how he choose the circuits, shape and materials, several of them just by trying and listening. Nothing was left to hazard. Even the bling!
It is fun that we suffer more when we see a luxury finish. However if we see industrial looking shoe box shaped amplifiers costing $150k we do not feel compelled to write explicitly about them in forums!
Very true! Not all attempts at design are beautiful to all; sometimes an understated design is more beneficial. Beauty begins with a universal human need, buts manifests itself heterogeneously and subjectively. Our response to beauty is hard wired and governed by circuits in the brain. This differs from individual to individual, of course.
With that said, the protruding circular things on front of the D'Agostinos make me cringe and grimace. But I do enjoy their sound very much.
If all other things are pretty much equal for an individual, no doubt they lose sales over their designs.
Yes, high end audio is a luxury hobby.
Yet one idea maybe to produce some of them in a fancy casing and others in a more plain-jane box. Economic term for this is approach price discrimination, and you see this virtually in every industry.
As an example, if you are flying, you can buy a large, first-class seat for top dollar, you can sit in a small seat all the way in the back for cheap, or you can choose to pay more for a seat right behind the first class section that gives you more leg room. Magico does this in our hobby by offering a speaker with "regular metal" and also a smoother, better looking metal for a $4K or $5K up-charge on their S models.
I don't know if D'Aggostino sells a lot of their units. If there are only 100, 200, or 250 out there in the whole world, it may not make sense. But if they, or others can swing this strategy, they would no doubt sell more units.
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