Show notes
Well recorded, well rounded, great sounding music makes people feel alive. Hi-fi’s and amplifiers are there to fulfil that purpose, and Dan D’Agostino is the best in the business at creating high-end, luxury Hi-Fi. Rob interviews a pioneer in the audio industry, having created a £250K amplifier entitled the Relentless. Their conversation goes from their shared love of music, to how to balance creativity with the hard facts of business, and what it takes to make a $250K amplifier? Listen to this episode to learn more about balancing the creative and business to gaining the confidence in charging more for your product. Could you charge 250K for your product?
Key Takeaways
How did you first get interested in Hi-Fi? It was music that got me into Hi-Fi, through my father, when I was young. He would play lots of different music, and he would build a small hi-fi system in our house. It became a career after a while, I saw a gap in the late 70’s in amplifier designs. There weren’t high enough amplifiers out there for the music people were listening to. People really liked the idea, and that’s when I thought there was a business I could make out of it.
The Relentless took me two years to turn it into a product. The enclosure is not a normal offering within the market out there. Many are things you wouldn’t like in your living room, they are ugly. I wanted to make something a little like an engine, even space. But the cost comes from the inside of the amplifier, which are second to none, no expense spared, hence they cost $250,000.
With the relentless amplifier, I didn’t have a budget. I wanted to build it and I didn’t want to take any shortcuts. The price came letter. I didn’t make any compromises. It takes two weeks to make one pair of relentless amplifiers.
How do you have the confidence to charge the top end of the market? I do enter it with some trepidation. You don’t have to build a product when you design it, is key. In the Relentless case, a lot of people said that they would like to buy something like the amplifiers that I was making.
How has the audio market changed in the last 30 years? Audio, 30 years ago, was a big deal, stores were crowded. Vinyl was a big factor, and then CDs were huge. People flew to Hong Kong to buy a CD and play it when they got home. People are more educated now, more knowledge of prices. When people come into your shop they want to buy something they like. Anyone can buy on the internet but a dealer has to show that extra value they are able to offer.
My whole emphasis is on the sound. If I don’t tear up or get goosebumps when I listen back to a piece of music on my Hi-Fi’s then I will go back to the drawing board. I have an intuition with the components, I which order and how things work together or not. I keep on pushing the envelope, like with the Relentless.
Do you think you want to bring a style or characteristic to the sound, or do you want your product to be out of the way? I’m in the school of getting out of the way. I notice with other amplifiers that you can notice a certain characteristic but that’s not my school. My characteristics come through in the design, the look of the amplifiers. You could design an amplifier in a black box and it would have the same sound but it wouldn’t give you the same feeling because of the design.
I’m really trying to create a product that is invigorating. I want to build something on that scale that of a high-fashioned piece of jewellery. I’m a bit of watch collector. Apple watches are great but when I go out I always wear an analogue watch. Could Hi-fi go in the same direction as watches? I’m hoping that it goes the way of watches that they are not just there to tell the time they are a piece of jewellery as well.
What would you say the vision is for your company? Continue to make products that are visually enhanced. I want to make internet products and high-quality products. It’s a wonderful time to experience music, and it shouldn’t be a pain to access. It should be really accessible.
What are your go-to demo songs? I have some old recordings of Frank Sinatra and Nat-King Cole that I always use. I listen to a lot of Jazz from the 80’s and 90’s. I play a lot of jazz and play all different types of music. I have to go to recordings, and they are always the same ones, so you can see if there is anything different in the sound. I do like to surprise myself sometimes with a new song, however.
How would you explain your passion for Hi-Fi? A lot of people ask me what I do. People say that they don’t have a trained ear. So, I reply that you can hear me speak, so you don’t need any training. It’s like Frank Sinatra is in the room with you. You can hear all the tightening, and the rustling, it feels real.
My wife and I run this new venture, she runs the operational size, and I run the engineering part. We do have discussions around business vs art but not with the relentless. If I’m trying to design a $15,000 amplifiers there is a concern on the parts, and how we can make money from it. I’ve learned the hard way from being fired from my old company
What’s the future of Dan D’Agostino? My children work in the company, and my grandson is going to work in the business. We have a good idea of how the name and company will continue after I don’t want to work every day. We have a good succession plan.
I want to melt the technology and analogue together. Something that allows a customer to do the modern things, and interfaces with the sound quality that you want from high-quality Hi-Fi.
The best advice that you have ever received: Don’t believe your own hype.
Worst Advice ever received: Get an investor.
What does the word disruptive mean to you? Unsettling, whereas I think that my products are engrossing.
Best Moments
‘It was music that got me into Hi-Fi.’
‘I’ve always loved music.’
‘I wanted to make something visually attractive.’
‘The price came letter’
‘People flew to Hong Kong to buy a CD and play it when they got home.’
‘Audi...it’s not an easy game.’
‘I have a signature sound that people like.’
‘I keep on pushing the envelope’
‘I’m in the school of getting out of the way.’
‘You could design an amplifier in a black box and it would have the same sound but it wouldn’t give you the same feeling.’
‘I’m hoping that it goes for the way of watches that they are not just there to tell the time they are there as a piece of jewellery.’
‘I do like to surprise myself.’
‘I look for songs from my past that can define the product sound.’
‘You don’t need any training for listening to hi-fi. just ears.’
‘Everything is hand built.’
‘We are a very small company, that keeps is our standards really high.
ABOUT THE GUEST
No name is more closely associated with high-end audio amplifiers than that of Dan D’Agostino. During his career of more than 30 years, D’Agostino pioneered countless advances in the design of amplifiers, preamplifiers, CD players, and surround-sound processors. He is known as the audio industry’s most passionate promoter of high quality, high-powered amplification. Makers of the world’s finest loudspeakers rely on D’Agostino-designed amplifiers for their most important demonstrations.
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Rob Moore is an author of 9 business books, 5 UK bestsellers, holds 3 world records for public speaking, entrepreneur, property investor, and property educator. Author of the global bestseller “Life Leverage” Host of UK’s No.1 business podcast “Disruptors”
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