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Classe 101 vs. McCormack DNA125: opinions?

A local dealer let me bring home a Classe CA-101 today to try with my B&W 603 S3s. It is a nice amp, refined, transparent and dynamic. But to my surprise the bass is a big disappointment, in that there is very little low end weight. It nearly sounds as though the Classe begins to roll off at 120 hz. Others have mentioned to me this lightweight presentation, but I had to hear it for myself. In any event, next on my consideration list is the McCormack DNA 125. Could anyone comment on the overall presentation of the 125, and more importantly, has anyone compared these 2 amps?

TIA

Neil
128x128lneilb

Showing 2 responses by darrylhifi

darrylhifi
498 posts
 
A Classe 101 is underpowering your B%W's IMO. Yes you would have to step up the line to make your B&W.s rock, dont know your pricepoint, but keep getting those home auditions so you are 100% happy.
darrylhifi
498 posts
 
You know whats a little "dumb" about the Classe 101.
I own one, but use it in mono , to drive 300 watts for my center channel in a HT set up. But whats "dumb" about it is the power inlet is right where the binding posts are for the speaker cables. I use a little piece of rubber to ensure at the back of the amp the speaker cables and power cords are not touching each other. Power cords touching speaker cables {or interconnects for that matter} will suck a chunk of dynamics from your sound.
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