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.

@dmader48 

"By the way, I decided to let go of the TLC. Pat had clients who were eager for it and so I sold it to SMcAudio for $450; a fair deal. Now some other lucky person has an upgraded TLC which I'm sure makes them very pleased!!" 

When did you turn the TLC over to SMc?   I might be that lucky person.  SMc did the full monty upgrade on a TLC-1 that I purchased from them some years ago.  It is the black one pictured in the middle of the stack of upgraded equipment on their home page.  Steve said my upgraded SMc TLC-1 Signature Edition sounds "very close to the VRE-1 preamp." and I am not surprised.  

@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.

@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. 

I suspect this is heading way deep into proprietary business issues.  Since C-J acquired McCormack, it would seem that any notifications about the equipment would be the responsibility of C-J and likewise any sharing of equipment schematics would be their prerogative.  

My (perhaps ill-advised) comment earlier in this thread saying "unless the amps are blowing up and houses are burning down" was clearly intended as tongue-in-cheek to illustrate that IMO the OP was a little over the top in his message.  Hopefully, that did not prompt anyone to believe there was an actual safety issue with the input boards.  SMc worked on a DNA-2 LAE that I owned and at no time did I hear anything about a safety issue.  In the case of my DNA-2, I had a full upgrade performed so the failed input board was replaced as part of a larger project.  The decision to spend the money to replace only the input board without further upgrades would obviously vary from owner to owner.

If anyone has service questions, they could visit the McCormack Audio website, where they can find the following message:

McCormack Audio has suspended production of all McCormack brand products and has no remaining inventory.
Service for McCormack products, including model and capacitor upgrades continues to be offered through our sister company, conrad-johnson design, inc.
For more information on service and upgrades of McCormack products, please contact us by email at service@mccormackaudio.com, or by phone at 703-698-8581 

So, to summarize, 

• It is not unusual for 30+ year old amplifiers to have problems, that in the case of the McCormack Audio amplifiers could be related to boards, capacitors, and/or other things.
• The board issue affects the older DNA-0.5,1,2 series amplifiers and not the newer DNA-125,225 amplifiers.
• McCormack Audio Corporation of Virginia maintains a website but no longer manufactures McCormack Audio amplifiers. 
• Repairs of existing McCormack Audio amplifiers, for the purpose of restoring operational function, can be obtained through Conrad-Johnson Design, Inc., i.e.:  "Service for McCormack products, including model and capacitor upgrades continues to be offered through our sister company, conrad-johnson design, inc."
• If you want your McCormack Audio amplifier upgraded to a higher performance level than when it was new, the most experienced and best-regarded company to perform that work is SMc Audio. 
• You can also have other people do stuff to your amplifier, or you can do stuff to it yourself, if you choose.
• Some people who have done stuff to their own amplifier have screwed it up.

@paimei 

If I could have anything in audio,  a new Mccormack would be at the top of that list.  If it existed.

Yes it mostly does exist, as mentioned previously in this thread.  If a new McCormack amplifier is truly at the top of your list, then buy one (or two if you want monoblocks) of whatever model McCormack amplifier you want (DNA 0.5, 1.0, 125, or 225, but not the DNA 2) from the used market, send it to Patrick at SMc Audio, and he can create what is essentially a new McCormack amplifier for you, only better sounding than the original - no kidding.