Don’t buy used McCormack DNA 1990s amps

McCormack Audio was purchased by Conrad Johnson many years ago and they no longer manufacturer McCormack amplifiers.

SMc Audio is owned operated by Steve McCormack, the original designer of McCormack Audio amplifiers.  SMc upgrades the older amplifiers and they also manufacture entirely new products, including amplifies, preamplifiers, and several unique ancillaries.

SMc Audio has created new boards that can be used in failed McCormack Audio amplifiers.  However, because of the labor involved, it is a better value to commission an entire upgrade of the amplifier, which would include the new boards.  Yes, it is expensive but you can end up with an amplifier that approaches world class, depending on your upgrade choices.  SMc performs the upgrades using mostly only the chassis and heat sinks from the older McCormack amplifiers.  Otherwise, sell your failed amplifier to a buyer who wants to send it to SMc Audio so they can use the chassis and heat sinks to build a fully upgraded amplifier.

I have owned some pretty good sounding amplifiers, including the following monoblocks: Clayton M300 and M200, Lamm M1.2 Reference and M1.1, Cary SA-500.1 and 500MB, and Herron M1.  None of those displayed as satisfying a combination of dynamics, tonal density, and clarity as my SMc Audio DNA-1 ULTRA G monoblocks, that began their lives many years ago as two separate McCormack DNA-1s.  Mine are the pair at the bottom of the first panel of pictures on the SMc Audio home page.   While you are on the site, take the time to watch the 6-part video interview with Steve McCormack to become familiar with their business and product range.

Yeah man your point is well taken, admittedly I'm on the high end of idiot savant in the DIY world and it likely doesn't make sense for the average consumer to pay someone to perform this kind of fix.... and the McCormack wasn't produced in high enough numbers to create any kind of economic model for anyone to take on this kind of project.... That being said, I'm all about sustainability and keeping great amps alive! and its really silly though. PCB's are so cheap if you have the layout.”

@pwayland You and I are so totally on the same page!  If I coulda swapped out an input board for a few hundred bucks, man, I’d a been all over that.  But that I maybe got lightly forced into spending a bit more for what is likely gonna be a reference-level amp I’ll likely live happily with for the rest of my life (and who knows what future upgrades will come my way) — well, I guess I just gotta live with that.  Heh heh.  But I’m also about sustainability, so if I did my little part by recycling my case and transformer and that they’ll both live on for decades more rather than landing in a landfill — yeah, I kinda feel good about that.  Peace my friend!

@curiousjim Great question, and yes upgraded SMcAudio upgraded amps do rarely show up for sale, but the same rules still apply — if the input board hasn’t been replaced you’re dancing with the devil. Whether it’s worth the $$$ for the upgrades, we’ll, I’m gonna have to get back to you on that cause I honestly, and frustratingly, haven’t gotten to listen to the damn thing yet but I will say this though — Steve has been refining his amps over decades — think Porsche 911 — so my bet is the classic has only gotten MUCH better but I’ll definitely letcha know fer sure. Please feel free to text me if I don’t follow up in enough time for you. Also, if u in the NYC area you’re more than welcome to come listen for yourself. After all, what are we if not a supportive community? And this offer extends to my other A’gon brother/sisters as well if anyone else who might wanna hear this amp with their own music.  Just sayin’.  We get what we give, right?

@mitch2 That is a REALLY interesting perspective considering you compared your SMcAmps to some of the best amps ever made, at least IMHO. But, you just exemplified why I chose to upgrade my humble DNA-0.5 RevA rather than just buying another amp.

For any who may care, I’ll post my impressions of my new, fully-upgraded DNA 0.5 with full Gravity Base and newly-implemented silver wire upgrade (as far as I know the only SMcAudio amp with this wire upgrade ever as it’s their latest upgrade and they used my amp as a test mule, which I was thrilled with) when I get it fully burned in and can get a good handle on what I’ve got here.

Absolutely correct, soix, and I am excited to hear how you like your rebuild!

I had a DNA-1 Deluxe for 20 years, loved it, and then it died suddenly. Board and/or caps failed. I had been in discussion for several years with Steve Mc and Patrick at SMc Audio to do one of his full upgrades but hadn’t. When it died I called them, and they gave me $400 for the dead amp. A mistake on my part, because I have decided I might like the latest "Full Monty" rebuild he does with his "gravity base" system on the DNA series and I can’t find a dead DNA-1 as the platform for it. When I’ve searched used ones, 20 years old for $1500-2500, I just laugh because they are time bombs. It’s not a question of if they will die (for the reasons Soix described), but when.

The gravity base is a heavy brass plate they build into the amp, iirc, which was developed during their collaboration with David Berning, one of the world’s foremost amplifier designers. They tell me it makes a very worthy improvement to their amps. Steve and SMc are now building very high-end amps and preamps on a per order basis, but still rebuilding his old DNA series because of demand. They have always been special amps and a true value, and people I’ve talked to who have done the latest gravity base full-house upgrade (maybe $3-4k?) say they are as good as anything 2-3X the price. Steve McC has always been about value for the workingman, but now he is doing custom high-end work because of his reputation. One system that he was a team member on is almost $1 MILLION. The high-end world is weird. SMc build a wonderful preamp that was $8K, but it didn't sell much because it was at the low end of the really high end. They got a distributor, doubled the price for the same unit (had to increase the price), and now they can't build them fast enough apparently. Because some people don't think a preamp can be good if it's "only" $8000 but at $16,000 it must be. 

Patrick at SMc is a good guy and can tell you all about what they are doing.

@soix - you cannot say that the board cannot be repaired by anyone.  Do you do repair work yourself?  Any product can be repaired unless the parts cannot be identified or there are no replacement parts available.  That being said, you do not have to get a new board made, you can simply made the part point-to-point wired and get rid of the board altogether.  But you need a competent repair person like we do.