I have the first DNA-225 amp upgraded by SMc (upgraded this summer) and have about 400 hours of listening time on it to date. Steve, if you are tracking this thread, I was going to email you, as you requested, with a "review" of the modification, but perhaps this posting will be an acceptable alternative. Actually, I was going to post a review on Audiogon, but haven't had the time to post the kind of review I'd like to do.
Before I describe my listening experience I'll list the rest of my system: Vandersteen Model 5's (new as of 10/3/03), ARC SP-9 MKIII, MF Tri-Vista (new as of 10/3/03), Linn LP12/Lingo/Ekos/Cirkus with Dynavector 20x cartridge, Harmonic Technology Pro Silway MkIII ic's, OCOS speaker cable, Audience Power Chord for amp, JPS Labs Digital PC for Tri-Vista, everything plugged into Hubbell 5620 cryo'd outlets on dedicated lines. I also listened to the amp with Avalon Acoustic Avatars and did extensive comparison listening with an ARC VT100 MkIII.
Steve's transformation of the DNA-225 is absolutely stunning. The unmodified amp has been acknowledged by both TAS and Stereophile as one of the best amps around, but the modified amp is leagues better than the stock unit. These are the adjectives that come immediately to mind to describe the sound: gorgeous, vivid, detailed (but not etched or bright), revealing, full bodied (but not loose or fat), with a soudstage that is wide, deep and detailed to the corners. Almost like a stage that has sunlight evenly illuminating the entire surface. The "threadbare" quality of the midrange mentioned in the reviews of the stock unit has been replaced with a vibrancy a, I want to say "lushness" but that isn't the right word, that is very seductive. After listening to the ARC tube amp and then going back to the McCormack, both I and my audiophile friends much prefered the McCormack's quiet background, high resolution, and faithful rendering of the musical textures. There is a 3-D quality to voices and instuments that you hear only on the very best equipment. It has this "rightness" of reproduction that allows you to hear music with which you are very familiar as though for the first time. And it does this whether you are listening to Art Pepper, Heifetz, or Lonnie Brooks. Remarkable.
I really believed I was going to like the VT100 better with the Vandy's, but it wasn't even close. On classical, jazz, blues, bluegrass, voice, instrumental, small scale, large scale, you-name-it, the McCormack was preferred by us all. Even the ARC dealer had to reluctantly admit that he was shocked at how good the modified DNA-225 sounded (first time he had heard the amp was when he came to make final adjustments to the Vandy's.
While the beautiful synergy between this amp and the Model 5's is well known to Audiogoners, the dramatic improvement wrought by Steve's modification were obvious with the Avatars as well. I should also mention that Steve is a delight to do business with and is very responsive and generous with his time. I wish more people in the industry shared his commitment to the customer as well as to excellence of product.
Well, this "review" was not the paragon of audio journalism I had envisioned, but you get the point--if you have a DNA-225, you owe it to your ears to get Steve to modify it. I haven't heard anything, SS or tube, for under $15k as satisfying. An unqualified triumph.
Before I describe my listening experience I'll list the rest of my system: Vandersteen Model 5's (new as of 10/3/03), ARC SP-9 MKIII, MF Tri-Vista (new as of 10/3/03), Linn LP12/Lingo/Ekos/Cirkus with Dynavector 20x cartridge, Harmonic Technology Pro Silway MkIII ic's, OCOS speaker cable, Audience Power Chord for amp, JPS Labs Digital PC for Tri-Vista, everything plugged into Hubbell 5620 cryo'd outlets on dedicated lines. I also listened to the amp with Avalon Acoustic Avatars and did extensive comparison listening with an ARC VT100 MkIII.
Steve's transformation of the DNA-225 is absolutely stunning. The unmodified amp has been acknowledged by both TAS and Stereophile as one of the best amps around, but the modified amp is leagues better than the stock unit. These are the adjectives that come immediately to mind to describe the sound: gorgeous, vivid, detailed (but not etched or bright), revealing, full bodied (but not loose or fat), with a soudstage that is wide, deep and detailed to the corners. Almost like a stage that has sunlight evenly illuminating the entire surface. The "threadbare" quality of the midrange mentioned in the reviews of the stock unit has been replaced with a vibrancy a, I want to say "lushness" but that isn't the right word, that is very seductive. After listening to the ARC tube amp and then going back to the McCormack, both I and my audiophile friends much prefered the McCormack's quiet background, high resolution, and faithful rendering of the musical textures. There is a 3-D quality to voices and instuments that you hear only on the very best equipment. It has this "rightness" of reproduction that allows you to hear music with which you are very familiar as though for the first time. And it does this whether you are listening to Art Pepper, Heifetz, or Lonnie Brooks. Remarkable.
I really believed I was going to like the VT100 better with the Vandy's, but it wasn't even close. On classical, jazz, blues, bluegrass, voice, instrumental, small scale, large scale, you-name-it, the McCormack was preferred by us all. Even the ARC dealer had to reluctantly admit that he was shocked at how good the modified DNA-225 sounded (first time he had heard the amp was when he came to make final adjustments to the Vandy's.
While the beautiful synergy between this amp and the Model 5's is well known to Audiogoners, the dramatic improvement wrought by Steve's modification were obvious with the Avatars as well. I should also mention that Steve is a delight to do business with and is very responsive and generous with his time. I wish more people in the industry shared his commitment to the customer as well as to excellence of product.
Well, this "review" was not the paragon of audio journalism I had envisioned, but you get the point--if you have a DNA-225, you owe it to your ears to get Steve to modify it. I haven't heard anything, SS or tube, for under $15k as satisfying. An unqualified triumph.