- Dan D’Agostino’s Momentum Z Monoblock Amplifier is a new high-end amp
- Ethernet port lets you monitor various output stats
- You saw the headline. £61,500 each, and they do a single channel
Money no object
We love to give practical buying advice on the latest gadgets here at TechRadar. But sometimes what we love even more is to indulge in the most outrageously high-end, cutting-edge, luxurious tech on the planet. That’s what we bring you in these Money No Object columns – you can read the whole series here.
Some hi-fi fans might balk at buying an extra piece of gear that costs £123, even if it improves their audio. The new Momentum Z MonoBlock Amplifier isn’t for those people. A stereo set of these costs £123,000 (about $170,000 / AU$240,00).
Coming from famous high-end hi-fi name Dan D’Agostino, this amplifier that’ll add the extra power only bespoke and incredibly high-end audio systems will need. It was designed to celebrate the maker’s 15th anniversary.
At its core, the Momentum Z is just a very, very powerful amp. It can output at 500 watts to 8 ohms, up to 2,000 watts into 0 ohms, coming from a “dual 1,200 VA linear toroidal transformer array”.
A proprietary regulator makes sure that your tech stays safe (ie, doesn’t explode, or sound bad from too much power), with precision-tuned sound. If these words and stats don’t mean much to you, you probably don’t need to buy it – especially as the most interesting and unique thing here just involved even more jargon.
Justifying the price
A few more specs give the Momentum Z a little flair. For example, it has an ethernet port, so you can connect it to a local network. The goal of this is to let you monitor the Momentum Z’s performance; temperature, bias, operating voltage, DC offset and so on. You can claim it’s so you know it’ll keep working for a long time; we both know it’s just fun to see your advanced new toy do its thing.
Dan D’Agostino has also put a Junction Field perfect Field-Effect Transistor into the amp, the first used in a piece of tech from the maker. This is designed to reduce the noise inserted via the device’s processing, to maintain a natural sound.
To me, a big draw of the Momentum Z (if I had £123,000) is the look – as with all Dan D’Agostino gear. It has a classy silver-and-copper body, with a retro-looking dial at the front to measure the power. It’s called the Dual Domain Meter Display, for the jargonistically-inclined.
One single power amp measures 32 x 13 X 54cm and weighs 45kg, so I hope your shelving is up to it…
There’s no beating around the bush: this isn’t a mainstream-oriented device, but for the right setup, having this much power is key. The last time anyone from team TechRadar saw some Dan D’Agostino amps in action was as part of a stereo hi-fi setup that cost over $3 million in total.
The Dan D’Agostino Momentum Z Monoblock Amplifier goes on sale in March 2026. The £123,000 price is for a stereo pair, but can buy them individually for the affordable price of £61,500.
For some slightly more mainstream approaches to hi-fi, check out our list of the best stereo speakers, featuring passive and active options:
The best stereo speakers all budgets
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tom.bedford@hotmail.co.uk (Tom Bedford)
