Best Pre-amp for the McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe

At the upper end of your range, you should be able to get a BAT VK 3i, which I found to be very nice when I was running it with my McCormack. Also don't overlook the SMcAudio upgrades for that amp. HUGE improvements are possible.

Look at the Audible Illusions M3a preamp.

I run a hot rodded passive with my DNA 1. There are many good passives on the market, just depends on your budget and tastes. Mine uses the top of the line TKD stepped attenuator. Steve McCormack himself builds passive and active pre's.

I use EAR 834p for seperate phono stage. I had the EAR modded also and use Amperex Bugle Boy tubes and a single Sylvania 5751 triple mica in it. Love the sound!!!!

R.

In related threads, the Eastern Electric Minimax has come up as a possible good choice. You can get a new one with the beefed-up power supply and improved capacitors for $850 right now-a ridiculous bargain-totally blows away the PV10 (I have a PV10a and borrowed the Minimax to listen to in my system: detail, bass response, frequency extension, realism is all leaps/bounds better than the PV10a) (both had stock tubes, BTW). The Minimax does have alot of gain though-not sure if this would affect the sonics of pairing it with the McCormack (also a high-gain design, if I remember right). Good luck!

Dawg, makes a very good point regarding gain. Whatever your choice, a quality attenuator is, IMHO, crucial with the Mc and will pay great rewards.

whyt,
check out www.audiomirror.com. this amplifier might not have a name,but sound quality to my ear are just as good as any multi thousand dollars pre-amp..just sold my Bat pre-amp for this pre-amp and couldnt be any happier..i have no affiliate with this company..just one happy customer.

Well, I've been searching the threads and I've seen a lot of good things about Rogue audio's "99" with Phono Stage (important, since I don't want to purchase a separate phono amp). Would this really be that big of a jump in overall sound quality over the CJ PV10??

I am running a Tube Audio Design 150 with my DNA-1 through Vandersteen 2 CE sigs. It has phono and can be had for about $7-800. I had five other pres in 04 and the TAD-150 sounded better than the others by a fairly wide margain, the only one that came close was the ARC SP9 MK2 with Amperex USN-CEP. Read the reviews in the A=gon review section.

Eagleman,

Weren't you having some problems with a speaker humm do to your TAD?? I think the last response I read was that you were sending it back to B-Bee for repair Did that ever get resolved??

Whyt Rabbit,

Yes, I sent it back to Paul and he found that something was burned out. I forget exactly what it was but, it was like that when I received it from the original owner. Paul fixed it right away and sent it back and the original owner sent me a check for the shipping to Paul. Since then I have had no problems. It sounds better than any of the other preamps that I previously tried in 04. It is still in my system and will remain there for the time being. I still have a minor hum which I can fix with a cheater but, it takes away some of the soundstage. The noise is inaudible when music is playing.

Eagleman

Do the McCormack amps have a low input impedance

My amplifiers typically have a 100K input impedance. The only exceptions are the DNA-500 and the amps I have upgraded as monoblocks or with balanced inputs. These amps have a 10K input impedance, as dictated by the balancing transformer.

Best regards,

Steve McCormack
www.SMcAudio.com