McCormack pres/amps and Steve's mods

I will agree with both the Swampwalker and Phd with respect to the 0.5.

I have had both tube and SS preamps with my McCormack DNA-225. There are wonderful possibilities, either way, in addition to passives. My only caveat would be to make sure you pay close attention to getting something with a good quality attenuator with as many step increments as possible.

You mention the RLD-1 and upgrades. DO NOT ignore the possibility of having that piece upgraded by Steve McCormack. I have heard of good things regarding that particular upgrade. Here is a link to a review on and upgraded RLD:

RLD-1 Upgrade

I just received back my DNA-225 last Friday after having Platinum upgrades completed. I will be forwarding a review after everything settles in but I have just one word for now - INCREDIBLE! Plus, Steve is an absolute PRINCE to deal with. I suggest giving him a call to discuss your situation. He will be honest and give advice depending on your needs and tastes without "selling". Good luck.

The DNA-2 Revision A amp is a beautiful sounding amp and I too intend to keep it for quite some time.

The previous owner of the DNA-2 Rev A replaced it with a DNA 0.5 Rev A Gold because his Vandersteen Model 5s have active woofers and he didn't need the added poundage nor powerage of the DNA-2 Rev A.

As I recall, he stated that sonics of the 0.5 Rev Gold and the DNA-2 Rev. A were near identical, except that there was a bit more weighted presentation with the DNA-2 Rev A because of the power differences.

-IMO

Hi there 'Goners -

I figure I might as well throw in my `5 cents worth, and that would be to simply state my fondness for dual mono amps. I particularly like the true monoblock configuration (which also provides the highest power), but I also like using a pair of matched stereo amps in the "passive vertical bi-amp" configuration (this depends on having bi-wireable speakers). Single stereo amps are certainly convenient, but mono pairs offer higher performance. They also allow you to place each amp alongside its speaker, thus keeping the speaker wires as short as possible.

Best regards,
Steve McCormack
www.SMcAudio.com

Given the extra dough, I'd love to have a clone to my DNA-225 to do just that.

Ditto 4yanx comments about Steve Ms customer service and good advice. I've moved into a much more estoric beast (tube otls), but my 0.5 Rev A+ was a pretty damn impressive amp.