My audio journey which led me to the McCormack DNA 250

breal74

First off, thanks to everyone on this forum for the wealth of information you have provided me over the years. I rarely post, but I check in daily and throughly enjoy reading about everyone's audio journey.

That being said, for the last couple of years I have had the same components in my dual purpose system, except for the dac. I was using a Marantz SR5005 as a preamp/processor and a Parasound HCA-2205A as my amp pushing first a pair of RTi12's and then my current speakers which are a 2 1/2 way DIY design using ScanSpeak Revelator drivers. The only source I use is a NAS full of flac files accessed by my Sonos and currently run though a Musical Fidelity M1 DAC.

While I felt that the sound I was getting was really good for what I had, I knew that there was better sound out there if I moved up to a dedicated preamp. I purchased a Parasound P5 as it had all the bells and whistles I needed to fit into my dual purpose rig and thought that it would mate well with HCA 2205A. At first listen, I was extremely bummed as it sounded as if someone had thrown a heavy blanket over the speakers and moved them back a foot or two. Knowing about component burn in I left the system running at low volume for four days and then gave a listen. While the sound had moved forward a bit, and separation had improved immensely over what I was getting with the Marantz, it still sounded dull and lifeless. I left the system running for another work week and then had another listening session and it pretty much sounded the same as the last time. I tried swapping out interconnects from preamp to amp from Kimber Hero's to DH Labs BL-1 to MIT EXp1's and none of them made a real difference in the muffled sound. Now I was really bummed and felt like I actually took a step backward in my audio journey!

Jump to two weeks later, I joined my local audio club at Echo Audio for our monthly meeting and listening session. Down on a corner shelf was a McCormack DNA 250 for sale and knowing all the praise that the McCormack amps garner a seed was planted. After the meeting I went home and talked to my wife about it. She was also disappointed in the new sound of our system and said lets give the DNA 250 a try. Echo Audio has a 48 hour trial period for $10, which is so F'ing awesome of them, so I had nothing to loose. Brought it home and set it up late that night and as soon as we put our daughter on the school bus the next morning we ran home a had an A/B listening session between the DNA 250 and the HCA2205A.

Started with the HCA2205A and there was the veiled sound that had me in this situation to begin with. After we listened to Warm My Soul by Blundetto, we plugged in the DNA 250 and listened to the same track. BAM, MIC DROP! My wife and I immediately stared at each other with our mouths open. There was the sound we were looking for! The soundstage moved forward about 2 feet, the instruments and vocals had better separation and that wool blanket had been lifted off soundstage. As Tony has said before, my sack was pinned back! While the HCA 2205A is no slouch and was never in question in my initial system setup, the DNA 250 fits my new system better and is a way better amp, and should be considering the price difference. The DNA 250 is a winner and I/we feel that we have found our personal end game amplifier, unless we win the lottery.

I do have to give a big shout out to the guys at Echo Audio for all the help they have given me over the years, and just for being a bad a** audio shop. Also, my wife is the **** and I can't tell you awesome it is to have her along for the ride on this audio journey. Lastly, another huge thanks to all of you for all of the info, stories and help with spending my money, even though I don't post much about my audio journey. Without this site, I would likely be rocking some Best Buy ****.

-Brian

tonyb

Excellent man, so happy it worked out great for you.....and you have the wife to peel your sack off the back wall.....gently I hope.

That my friend is an amp to get you off the amp merry-go round. Enjoy....and if you want to, experiment with some cables to really bring out what that amp can do. Happy listening.

breal74

The cable safari is definitely next step. I would like to sell some stuff off first. I have the Hero's hooked up now. Any suggestions on IC's and power cords?

tonyb

I like Acoustic zen stuff myself, but you know how it goes, all comes down to synergy. I think with your amp and speakers, MIT shotguns would be a nice upgrade and really bring out the soundstaging and air around those notes on the top end. Power cords...PS Audio/Pangea/Shunyata...depends on what you want to spend. I don't think you need to go crazy on the power cords and put more into IC's and speaker cables.

Of course it should go without saying....buy used and save a ton of dough.

Joey_V

Glad you found the better amp. Congrats!

Wardsweb

Nice read. Audio is a journey. We learn along the way and hopefully we find the nirvana we are looking for. Remember serenity comes not from what you have but knowing what you can live without. You determine how good is good enough. Then sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

tonyb

Wardsweb wrote: »

Nice read. Audio is a journey. We learn along the way and hopefully we find the nirvana we are looking for. Remember serenity comes not from what you have but knowing what you can live without. You determine how good is good enough. Then sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Very well said....and judging by the stacks of nice gear you have laying around, there isn't much you can do without. lol.

We sometimes forget it's all about the simple pleasures of listening to music. Rock on....

Wardsweb

We each must determine our audio equilibrium. Remember the only person who has to like your system is you.

MrBuhl

congrats - I've experienced my own end game discoveries this year as well and it truly is exciting and gratifying - listen long and enjoy in good health!