Don’t buy used McCormack DNA 1990s amps

There are also some people who can make their own circuit boards, some of them look to be of decent quality.

@audphile1 

looks like you’ve taken on a function of being a proxy for SMc Audio to deliver a message of vested interest.

@kchamber 

If you do not understand that there may be a possible motivation of profit behind SMc telling people that their original amps input boards are not repairable then I do not know what to tell you.

I believe you guys are making assumptions based on facts not in evidence, and unfairly casting SMc Audio in a negative light.  If you know Steve and Patrick, you would also know that there are not many folks in the audio industry who care as much about the satisfaction of their customers as they do, and you would also know that they have had more than a steady flow of work for years now.  Steve continues to move forward with new products benefiting from his 40+ years in the business and, for him, creating high quality audio playback equipment is clearly as much or more a calling than a business.  SMc certainly do not need to add clients by fear-mongering owners of old amplifiers manufactured by the former McCormack Audio into taking action before the inevitable failure of their amplifier's input boards. 

IMO, the presentation of the OP was a bit over the top, with the whole "public service announcement", calling sellers of McCormack amps "yahoos", and then basically laying a turd on anyone who is trying to sell their McCormack amplifier.  Thanks for the warning, old stuff fails, shocker.  It seems in at least some cases, repairs are possible and unless the amps are blowing up and houses are burning down it would probably be sufficient to simply say "be aware, this could be a problem."

I suspect SMc's responses to some owners of the failed McCormack amps are similar to the analogy of how many patches do you want to put on an old bicycle inner tube?  At some point, taking the wheel and tire off and the work required to patch the tube is simply not worth the effort any more.  That doesn't mean it can't be done and it doesn't mean that the fifth or sixth patch will not hold for a year instead of a week, but the odds are against you.  In addition, patching failed input boards may simply not be aligned with SMc Audio's business plan, which includes performing high quality equipment upgrades of former McCormack Audio electronics and developing/manufacturing new products that make their customers happy.  However, as discussed in some of the posts, there are others who can make the repairs.

I believe you guys are making assumptions based on facts not in evidence and unfairly casting SMc Audio in a negative light.
 

@mitch2 

I respectfully disagree. I think Steve is a brilliant designer and I stated my admiration for his amplifiers (sans the modded 225).

However, the manner in which the information here and in another post was delivered and broadcasted by @soix who apparently had more than one conversation with Steve/SMc Audio and in one way or another was given explicit or implicit consent to go on with it, led me to think there’s vested interested involved. I am not accusing anyone of trying to run a business and make a living. But I do have a problem with the nature of OP’s two threads (one targeting specific classified was already removed).

@audphile1 

I am certainly good with respectful disagreement.  We need more of that around here.

I understand your examples and hear your skepticism but I have been a customer of Steve's now for over 10 years and while I agree with your assessment of his design capabilities, I also believe he is a genuinely good person and I have seen that evidence first hand through working on several projects with him and Patrick, and particularly as we went through the frustration of one project that wasn't a home run initially.  Secondly, he and Patrick have been basically swamped with work for the over 10 years I have conversed with them, and they simply don't need the additional volume of work. 

I do not know why @soix has chosen to inflate the board issue to the point where people think SMc put him up to it in order to generate projects.  IMO, the best thing is to look at Steve McCormack’s own words provided in the message posted earlier in this thread by @soix .  The posted message from Steve provides a factual representation of the input board issue and states SMc’s position based on their first-hand experience working on many McCormack amplifiers, including the reason for the issue, which amplifiers are affected, which are not affected, the risks of problems recurring after a "repair" job, an explanation of why they no longer perform input board repairs, and the reason why a more permanent repair using new boards is costly.  Steve didn't say nobody could repair amplifiers affected with the board issue, @soix ad-libbed that part:

“when it fails your amp is dead and not repairable by anyone — not even SMcAudio,”

Steve did say SMc no longer does the repairs because of the high rate of post-repair failure, which is apparently a business decision that benefits both SMc and their customers. 

@mitch2 that’s my point exactly. This thread is a gross exaggeration of an issue that may or may not happen. Contrary to the possible intent, it does no one any favors.