Looky What Followed Me Home This Weekend = McCormack

MrBuhl

Picked up a McCormack DNA-1 (300w 4ohm/ 500w 2ohm), original, no revisions, locally off CL in pretty good shape - I had been lightly looking for a step up from my B&K ST1400II (185w 4ohms) both in power and a different sound match) and based on past threads and recommendations, this seemed to fit the bill pretty well (also as a match with the new Dodd MLP). I had other candidates, (Bryston, Aragon, Proceed) but this one made itself available at the right price once I negotiated a bit, so home it came!

I have to say, this thing is a beast. Heavy and rugged. It seems to have gobs of power for the 1c's and controls them very tightly. It's 2ohm rated for the dips with the modified 1c's and Erse Super Q's so no worries there either.

Most importantly, it was the missing link on SOUND. Low bass has a controlled oomph it never had before, mid bass punches you right in the face without being overwhelming or boomy, highs are brighter and more open than the B&K and exactly what I was looking for. My sound stage seems to envelope me now, particularly with well recorded vinyl, there is even greater separation, it's really amazing what a difference the combo has made. It does run a bit hot, but after a few extended listening sessions, I can not be more pleased - it really takes the entire system to a different level and it sounds like an amp 5x bigger than the B&K instead of 2x. No question about it, this amp is a keeper.

So I spent a long time this weekend listening to my system, and I have to say, the advice (and gear) that I've been able to assemble mostly as a result of either sales or advice from PF friends has officially taken 2 channel to a new level at mi casa. Though you you all help dig the rabbit hole with unchecked abandon, you are seldom (if ever!) wrong - thanks for all the advice!

The beauty of this amp for now - though I can't imagine needing it - if I feel the need to upgrade again, I can always go to one of the SMc revisions in the future, as they seem to be as highly regarded an improvement over the base amp as the base amp itself seems to be. Not cheap, but if I feel the need or desire, it's there.

drumminman

Congrats! Glad you found what you're looking for. It's always nice to be able to upgrade at some point rather than replace.

I did that with my Odyssey Stratos Stereo, which was upgraded to near their top of the line Kismet. Nice improvement.

MrBuhl

Thanks Drummin, it's really exciting when it all comes together on that first sit down, I sorta couldn't believe my ears!

Erik Tracy

Nice find.

That is one massive looking amp.

Congrats - enjoy the sonic goodness!

boston1450

Congrats. Beautiful amp. Enjoy

Jhayman

Congrats it's A Great feeling to be Truely Happy with a choice you make..
I love mine it's not going anywhere..

MrBuhl

Thanks guys - she is big, bad and beautiful, in a "russian girl drive truck to Minsk" sort of way!

Jhayman - I credit some of your threads (and Tonyb's comments on them) for selling me on the McCormack - I owe it to you. I wasn't really aware of them before and after reading up - this one came available so I jumped on it!

dromunds

That's a good amp. Congrats!

voltz

Super sweet nice Edition ED! Congrats my friend.

MrBuhl

Thanks men! It's making Charlie Mingus sound pretty sweet right now!

tonyb

Excellent amp there pal, McCormack is one of my favorite all around great sounding amps that sound more tube like but with the slam of SS. There's a reason why you don't see used McCormacks come up for sale too often, people tend to hold on to them. You like the baby brother, wait until you hear the DNA 500, a monster. Bat would also be a great amp for you to search out should a deal come your way. Congrats man and happy listening.

MrBuhl

Thanks Tonyb - your recommendation played a big part honestly - though I have to say - Jeezuz - if this is the baby brother - I'm a scairt 'o what Big Brother can do!! This thing is already a monster!

I looked up the 500 - that's the Ampzilla of power amps!! Steve McCormack saying something to the effect of (about the 4ohm rating), "well, at that point, if you can supply enough power from the wall... which is a problem..." yikes!!

tonyb

Your welcome bro, all the more reason to get your ears on as much as you can. There are so many quality brands out there that fly under the radar and don't get as much press as they should. Steve McCormack is also a great dude, along the lines of Jim Salk at Salk speakers, Peter at PBN, Bill D. at Legacy, All the guys over at Bat, and so on. People who get their feet wet with customers directly is something that should be sought after, and frankly, people who I would prefer to hand over my hard earned cash to.

Certainly a difference in audio once you go beyond the mass marketed BestBuy stuff. Enjoy your audio journey, it only gets better from here on out.

MrBuhl

LMAO - Dskip - that begs the question are those even real? Which of course, I already googled it and they are - that's like one of those big boob pics online - grossly oversized!

I can see the lights on my street dimming when those babies get plugged in!

ZLTFUL

Not to derail Mr. Buhl's thread (awesome amp btw...you will definitely be happy with that guy for a while)...but I have visited Boulder's shop and the 3050 monos (those pictured above) are built on engine stands...like what you would use to rebuild your big block Chevy or the like.

tonyb

Yep, nice amps for sure, you may need to invest in your own power company though.

MrBuhl

^^ That is amazing - really conveys scale ^^ I wonder how many get purchased in a given year - that's gotta be a rarity?!

ZLTFUL

Way more get purchased overseas than they do here. During the walk-through, they said that something like 65-70% of their sales are in Europe/Russia and Asia.
But you can still find some in the US. Most of their US volume comes from their lower lines though.

tonyb

MrBuhl wrote: »

^^ That is amazing - really conveys scale ^^ I wonder how many get purchased in a given year - that's gotta be a rarity?!

Don't discount the super high end stuff, lots of people with lots of coin out there burning holes in their pockets.

MrBuhl

Amazing - I just checked the bay - low end mono's for about $9K - it's actually not crazy - but jeeze. My wife would castrate me. She might actually do that now if she ever went down to mantown and paid attention!

Jhayman

Glad to have helped in your purchase, I owe a lot of my choices of gear to the Great members here on CP and Tonyb.

ZLTFUL

By Asia, they mostly mean Parts of Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Japan, Hong Kong. They also have a very limited footprint in Dubai.

Jhayman

I believe the DNA-250 and DNA-1 are about the same size, but here's a pic of the 250 and 500 when I had them both here..
The Transformer in the 500 is Massive..

nooshinjohn

I am glad the pairing is working well MrBuhl. I knew the Dodd needed to see solid state for amplification in order to truly shine. For some reason the pairing of tube power with the Pass Labs X1 is exactly what was needed on my end, so it is a win-win for both of us. I love it when all works out like this for everyone.

Jhayman

Here's my McCormack in action..

tonyb

Nice pics there. If you notice too, Steve McCormack uses multiple smaller caps instead of massive coke cans. He claims the amps give better transient response that way.

MrBuhl

That is some serious eye candy jhayman! Love the McCormack but the whole setup looks awesome!

Noosh - it is a perfect pairing with that McCormack - so happy I pulled the trigger!

Jhayman

tonyb wrote: »

Nice pics there. If you notice too, Steve McCormack uses multiple smaller caps instead of massive coke cans. He claims the amps give better transient response that way.

Whatever he does Tony it's Welcomed, lol
Whenever I have friends over or someone who's not seen anything like this before they always leave with a Big Grin on there face..

Jhayman

Thank MrBuhl..
Looking forward to seeing some pics of yours in flight when you get a chance, I love how the posting of pics has been Greatly increased, that's about the only positive change on the forum that I like, lol

MrBuhl wrote: »

That is some serious eye candy jhayman! Love the McCormack but the whole setup looks awesome!

Noosh - it is a perfect pairing with that McCormack - so happy I pulled the trigger!

tonyb

Jhayman wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

Nice pics there. If you notice too, Steve McCormack uses multiple smaller caps instead of massive coke cans. He claims the amps give better transient response that way.

Whatever he does Tony it's Welcomed, lol
Whenever I have friends over or someone who's not seen anything like this before they always leave with a Big Grin on there face..

Probably because you liquor 'em up first. lol Big amps, big speakers, big hooters....isn't life grand ?

Jhayman

tonyb wrote: »

Jhayman wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

Nice pics there. If you notice too, Steve McCormack uses multiple smaller caps instead of massive coke cans. He claims the amps give better transient response that way.

Whatever he does Tony it's Welcomed, lol
Whenever I have friends over or someone who's not seen anything like this before they always leave with a Big Grin on there face..

Probably because you liquor 'em up first. lol Big amps, big speakers, big hooters....isn't life grand ?

Ssshhhh your giving away my secret..lol
Don't forget they get to sit in my motorized recliner with drink in hand..now if I could only get it to make my drinks..life would surely be Grand..

P.S Tony Thanks again for recommending the McCormack it's been a Pleasure every step of the way..