FedEx and SMc brought me some fun today.

11tsteve

well, after four weeks and one day, my DNA 0.5 returned home today. As usual, my week is busy, but I have the house to myself this weekend.... newly upgraded amp, hopefully I can get the rest of my Lsi9 finished, new-to-me cables....
Here's a start.

vmaxer

Great amp, enjoy.

11tsteve

It was already fantastic before the upgrades.....

ledhed

Be careful, that pentagram might have been holding in all the audio demons

breal74

Awesome and I love the packaging. It is ready to rock! I can't wait to hear more about the improvements made and the difference in sound.

11tsteve

breal74 wrote: »

Awesome and I love the packaging. It is ready to rock! I can't wait to hear more about the improvements made and the difference in sound.

yeah, the packing was fine, but a cr*p-ton of peanuts, which I despise. Maybe I should karma them?
It was in my original box, with some of my original 1 1/2" foam and packing, and double boxed surrounded by peanuts.
I didn't have time last night to change things around.... going to do that tonight, get cabling in order, and let the amp sit powered up for a couple of days. Most likely I will start listening Friday night or Saturday.
Basically, the only things left from the original amp are the chassis, the transformer (the toridial upgrade was another $600), and the output boards/transistors.
I can't pretend to understand much of it as far as the technical details. But the main board was replaced with a new , built like a tank mainboard, all components and wiring updated, posts and RCA jacks, a Furtech IEC, and the amp sat in between their two reference systems for a week being evaluated by Steve and Pat.
I spoke with Pat numerous times on the phone, and wish they weren't so busy as it was very interesting.

11tsteve

Some nudies if you like...... I am rushed and they aren't super great....

The original.


The new.

tonyb

Looks brand new, now hook her up and tell us what ya hear. I'd imagine some break in is needed too.

11tsteve

tonyb wrote: »

Looks brand new, now hook her up and tell us what ya hear. I'd imagine some break in is needed too.

I would to, though it sounds like they put a lot of time in listening over the 5 days in their two systems.
My task at work is tearing apart and residing a 100'W x 240' x 12'H industrial red iron building, dawn to dusk, and has left little play time.... playing bachelor this weekend and not worrying about bothering anyone is going to be a welcomed luxury. Cable swapping, speaker swapping, and some fine rye aged ales.....

tonyb

Sounds like a plan, I'm jonesin to hear your thoughts. Go figure, they actually listened to it for a week before shipping back to you, take note Onkyo. lol Ken really had a hard time with them.

Any Parasound owners in the hca1200-1500 area, this is the brand you should move up to. One of the best SS amps for the money that don't sound like your typical SS amp.

[Deleted User]

Very nice! Congrats

11tsteve

tonyb wrote: »

Sounds like a plan, I'm jonesin to hear your thoughts. Go figure, they actually listened to it for a week before shipping back to you, take note Onkyo. lol Ken really had a hard time with them.

Any Parasound owners in the hca1200-1500 area, this is the brand you should move up to. One of the best SS amps for the money that don't sound like your typical SS amp.

Yeah.... I thought it was an impressive part of the upgrade process. Both Pat and Steve spent time listening, and moving things around between the two systems as needed for other projects. Their systems have Vandersteen and Genesis speakers, so nothing outrageously high end, but nice.
Also, I had briefly considered moving up to a DNA 1 Deluxe, but was told that my money would be better spent on the DNA 0.5. There is a lot of love there (still) for this model of amp.
All in all, nobody should EVER worry about dealing with SMc..... hands on, accessible super nice people out there. They told me 4 weeks, it took 4 weeks.

gudnoyez

Nice amp for sure, does this mean an Iowa Polk Fest, up Waterloo way this year?

MrBuhl

Damn now that is some very fine amp p o r n!! Congrats, I have been seriously considering this myself, I will be anxious to hear your thoughts! (**** banned for craps sake...)

breal74

Very nice 11steve! You must feel like a proud new papa. Beautiful looking work and I can't wait to hear how much of the original sound remains. Have fun breaking it in!

lightman1

gudnoyez wrote: »

Nice amp for sure, does this mean an Iowa Polk Fest, up Waterloo way this year?

Waterloo??!! Next on the list I think.
Nice hot rod amp there, let 'er rip!

11tsteve

Ha Lootown Polkfest.... well, it would mix well with my wife's love of loud things and meeting strangers....... still, an Iowa fest would be a ton of fun. Have McCormack Will Travel....

breal74

What's the good word on the amp?

On a side note, I grew up in Cedar Rapids and most of my family still lives in the area.

mikeyb128

Now that's a nice amp! And looks like some serious upgrading took place! Glad I don't see hockey tape and tin foil in there, that's always a good sign

11tsteve

breal74 wrote: »

What's the good word on the amp?
On a side note, I grew up in Cedar Rapids and most of my family still lives in the area.

The month my amp was at SMc, my rig had my old NAD 2150, which has seen some better days. It needs recapping, but is good enough to keep me from jonesing.... so that is where I am coming from into this DNA 0.5. I have switched between 5jr+, RTA 11T, and my Infinity Rsb, which happen to be currently hooked up.

First impression is the dynamics are incredible. Madonna's "Ray of Light" just started, and the bass/drums enter, it literally made me jump as I was typing. I may or may not be putting the amp through it's paces at a somewhat elevated volume.

I would say it's control is iron fisted, even with these 10" woofers. The degree of separation between voices, instruments.... is just nutty... I think this might be what is called air in critiques. I have Nathanial Rateliff on now, and the placement of his band is just solid, and even during the fuller passages I can distinguish the entire bass line like never before.

There has been experimentation with placement of speakers. My room is dead horrible for this, and I do the best I can. Right now with the Rsb on stands, I have them toed in slightly, which seems to work the best, and the soundstage is pinpoint and 3-D , and to the best of my memory, has more verticality than before.

During the clapping in "S.O.B", the dynamics are such that I can feel the hand clapping during the beginning.....

Listening to Cake, the pick on guitar strings and the growl of the amp..... the "feel" of a stick on a drumhead. I can "hear" the elasticity of the tom heads.....

In feel and dynamics, I would say the amp is detailed and fast, especially since I have listened to the NAD for a month (which has dynamics, but to me sounds warm and fuzzy).

Right now, the one negative.... I would call the overall tone of the amp just a smidge hot (on all three sets of speakers.) at the moment. Even though Steve and the techs did some listening, I would still chalk this up to a little break in time needed. But what I hear is the same thing I get when freshly recapped speakers are first hooked up.

I have some cable swapping to be done over the next week as well, experimenting.

breal74

Thanks for the update and keep us posted on the break in. Feels good to have your socks blown off by a new piece of gear, doesn't it?

tonyb

Socks ??

The dude's sack flew out the window and is hanging from a neighbors tree.

Glad your diggin' it. Don't let that .05 fool you, she has dynamics to spare and then some as you already know. After it breaks in, if you still have a smidgen of too much tone, you may want to look at different cables. Just a suggestion, rock on.

RamZet

I love how over built it is, the terminals on the back for the speaker cables are just awesome.

[Deleted User]

thanks for the write up. Sounds like fun to me!!!

11tsteve

Tomorrow the upgraded Lsi9 make their return.

Joey_V

Looks like a totally new amp, congrats!

11tsteve

I have touched on what I am hearing in the Lsi9 thread, and really, since speakers, amp, and cables have all been changed/upgraded, it is now more of a review of the system.
What I wrote above still applies, but since dropping in the Lsi9, that stringent "hot" things has disappeared. Even during break-in, I have to say I love the tweeters on these speakers, and at least in my house, these Polks seem to be exactly what this amp needed in the tonality department.
The holographic nature of the presentation is stunning. I personally, have not experienced yet this level of musicality and flow. Especially the vocal presence... the space between the vocalist and drum kit feels real....
Within my audio rabbit hole, I have spent more cash in the last two months, between amp and speaker upgrades, than the sum total of the last two years. And I gotta say.... you get what you pay for....

The cash and the work on the Polks?

Sooooooo worth it.

tonyb

Glad your a happy camper man, that's what the journey is all about. Put a lock on that wallet and enjoy the tunes.

[Deleted User]

really, good job and enjoy!

11tsteve

I sent SMc audio an email updating my thoughts on the "new" amp last week. In their own hands-on style, I received a phone call from tech Pat on Sunday, thanking me for my thoughts. As always, it lead to a somewhat lengthy phone call discussing present and future upgrade paths, tweaks, and thoughts on the state of audio.
He asked if I had replaced the fuses yet with higher quality ones, and I expressed a need to slow down on audio spending at the moment due to very recent medical costs I have incurred.
He then gave me a couple of "free" tweaks to try.... one thing that has some up even since mine was upgraded in February.
#1... lid off. Everyone there has always thought the amp really opens up once the lid is removed. To this end, he told me they have tried many, many differing substrates to make a new series of chassis lids, and have decided on carbon fiber. These will be available soon... they found an audible difference over the metal lid.
#2... the old yellow /green power light original to my amp was replaced by a blue LED, as the "soft on" feature of the amp was removed. They have been disappointed to find that, since it is plugged directly into the driver board, it creates an audible difference and that I should experiment with unplugging it. They have since been spending time figuring out how to re-route it so it has no impact.
Ok, gotta run to work... just thought I would share these thoughts.

JPete

Are you going to try the lid-off idea? Kinda like driving a car without a hood. I don't know if I want to do it, but if you have a good experience let me know.