McCormack DNA amp impressions?

Discussion in 'Power Amps' started by rlow, Sep 30, 2017.

  1. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Has anyone listened to any of the McCormack DNA amps from the late 90s early 2000s? They seem to have good reviews from the time, and come up occasionally on the used market for decent prices.

    Wondering if anyone has any recent experience with them?
     
  2. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    No recent experience, but I enjoyed my DNA .5 (deluxe version?) back in the day. Not sure I would have it on my wish list today. Bel Cantos early Evo series sound much better to me.

    What I would put on my list of older stuff to find would be Belles.
     
  3. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Interesting - thanks for that. I have seen a few of the Belles amps show up once and a while - any particular model you'd suggest?
     
  4. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    I think I was impressed by the 105 amp by Belles, but not perfectly certain of the model # I heard. Really nice with great slam.
     
  5. skem

    skem Friend

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    I had a DNA-1 Deluxe that I sold off about 3 years ago. It was a fine amp, but muddy in the bass with my notoriously sloppy 801-IIIIs. Too long ago for me to be more precise than this. I didn’t really survey the field at the time. I had reached out to Steve McCormack who was doing upgrades for $500-1000+, and making claims they would improve performance, but at that price I decided to try something new. Replaced with Ayre, which I liked because the bass was tighter. Although who knows ... the DNA was quite enjoyable for a long time.

    @bixby Mentioned the older Bel Canto. Those were early Class-D amps. Bel Canto switched, along with many others, to using the B&O ICEpower class-D modules in their subsequent amps. I bought a pair of just the modules in a box from a Chinese vendor for something like $100/ea. The modules in their own are not as good as the Ayre class A/B amps, but they do the job for a tiny fraction of the cost and no waste heat. They’ve been in my secondary system for years and I have no real complaints.
     
  6. Telstar

    Telstar Bottom 1% of posters on SBAF

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    They were very nice sounding, but I always felt something was missing or not precisely as it should be. I replaced them with a Classé cap-100 that lasted in my setup until last year.
    As McCormack, not super tight in the bass but very pleasant sound overall.
     
  7. Wfojas

    Wfojas Friend

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    I had an SMC DNA .5 I sold about a month ago. I've had it for decades, and when I cleaned house, I decided to move them, as I hadn't listened to them for a while. I was surprised at how it sounded tonally. I remember the SMC mods making it more controlled, where you got steps between soft and loud have 8 levels instead of 4 (microdynamics). Its a fast amp, and tonally will work for a lot of setups. There's a certain sweetness and sense of life (sparkle, though its not bright). Upper mids can get a little opaque. If you use it in a room full of drywall, be prepared to work on bass traps. Its worth the resale price price out there as they go for a song.
     

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