Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems has introduced its flagship preamplifier, the Relentless. Designed to partner the company’s matching Relentless Mono power amps, the Relentless preamp comes housed in three separate boxes with a dedicated audio chassis for each channel and a separate power supply sandwiched between the two, to keep the power supply feeds as short as possible.
The three units connect through special mechanisms in their mounting feet with thirty pin interlocking 20-amp gold plated connectors, eliminating the wiring (and potential instability) normally associated when joining separate audio units. This distinctive construction also allows for greater degrees of isolation and shielding claims their designers, keeping the audio signals separated, both physically and electrically from the power and digital control sections.
Each channel’s preamp unit is easily identifiable by their striking volume dials, like Swiss watch bezels on steroids
The preamplifier stages pack two 150 VA toroidal transformers to power their analog and digital circuits separately, alongside scaled down regulators based on those used in the Relentless mono amps.
Inputs wise, the Relentless Preamplifier favours only balanced XLR analogue sockets for greater signal purity, so RCA cable fans will need to look elsewhere
Twin source/zone functionality allows the Relentless to simultaneously control switching and volume of two sources in separate rooms or zones and there’s also an optional DSM (housed in the power supply/control chassis) which brings S/PDIF (coaxial and Optical), USB-A, RJ-45 and WiFi network inputs for PCM up to 32-bit/384KHz and DSD up to DSD256 (11.2MHz).
Tidal, Qobuz, and Spotify are catered for natively within the the custom app for iOS devices and with appropriately encoded music files, MQA decoding is standard, with Roon Music management also available.
Where modern and retro collide, the Relentless aluminium and copper remote is operated via touch pad with a display screen showing input, volume, and balance settings
Pricing
Priced at £165,000 and The Relentless Preamplifier is available in black, silver, or custom painted finishes.
Find out more at dandagostino.com.
