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McCormack DNA-750

I have noticed that recently some pairs of these mono amps with 650 watts/channel/8 ohms have come up for sale. I had not heard of these before but they seem like a good value product at the prices listed. I also understand that these amps were designed by the Conrad Johnson folks, not Steve McCormack. Has anyone heard these? I have liked the C-J Premier 350 in the past and wonder if the DNAs are similar. Any information or experience you have with these would be appreciated. I am looking for a high power amp with a bit of a warm sound. I am considering a BAT 600se and a Premier 350 as well.
teeshot
teeshot OP
123 posts
 
LLOYDELEE: I gave up on these because there was virtually no market information about them. Conrad Johnson's person said he thought they were inferior to the Premier 350 unless you did the cap upgrade. I purchased Marantz Reference monoblocs instead and am quite happy with them. I strongly considered Cary 500MB amps (about $3000 used) and Classe CAM400s (about $5800 used) before settling on the Marantz.
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Thanks Teeshot. i have emailed CJ about this...if i thought they were going to be stupendous, i would consider buying a demo pair at a big discount and then upgrading them to "CJ spec"...but only if i thought this would make them "SOTA keepers"...will speak with CJ next week about this.
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
BTW, Teeshot, i also have heard from a major distributor of McCormack they dont compare to the 350SA (which was also more expensive as a stereo than the mono).

Still, i also know CJ are super-great on service...and since they own both companies and do upgrades to older equipment...i am very intrigued to find out if they feel a "fully tricked out" pair of 750 monos would be superior to 350SA...or even superior to "350SA monos" if you know what i mean.
velocityofhue
186 posts
 
Tee I own the VK-600 and it sounds amazing in my setup. Effortless & Elegant sound producer
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
FYI - I spoke with CJ...there is no cap upgrade on these. They originally thought there would be and nearly made written announcements about it. But the cap upgrade was not particularly good in their opinion when they listened to it...so they dropped the idea.
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