McCormack DNA-1 runs hot

I am not worried anymore after all these comments and really glad to have Steve's point of view. That's make me proud to be a DNA owner. Thanks Steve. Yes, great amp and I will keep it for years...

I just checked using a kill-a-watt meter and the idle draw on my amp after one minute is 145w (@120.7v); the meter also read 1.74 amps. The volt reading was creeping up a bit, but seemed to stabilize. Nice to see Steve adding his comments here. My amp has the Rev A+ treatment from 1999 to 2001 period (two separate updates). Great amp, but haven't bothered to compare with others. I'd still call it "hot". :)

Hi Papazeze,

Your description of the warmth of your DNA-1 sounds completely normal. The DNA-1 runs fairly warm, but you can leave your hands on the heatsinks easily. And as you point-out, it's only the heatsinks that get warm, just as it should be. The idle temperature can be affected by several factors, but the most important by far is having unrestricted air flow around the amp and over the heatsinks. As long as you have at least several inches of space around the amp, you should be fine. The amp will, of course, run hotter if you push it hard for some time, but this is normal as well.

Glad to hear you are enjoying it!

Best regards,

Steve McCormack
SMc Audio

I've tried it with 3 different IC to the preamp and with 2 different speakers, same result. The heat/warm comes mostly from the sides, not really from the top. If the rule is to be able to keep your hands on it for more than 1 minute, so that should be normal and I can leave with that (the sound is fantastic).

I've tried it with 3 different IC to the preamp and with 2 different speakers, same result. The heat/warm comes mostly from the sides, not really from the top. If the rule is to be able to keep your hands on it for more than 1 minute, so that should be normal and I can leave with that (the sound is fantastic). Surpised to see that this fact doesn't seem to borther other owners... Maybe, I am not difficult...

I had some problems with my 225 that ended up being traceable to a bad IC to the preamp. My problems actually resulted in repairs (a good excuse I used to get an SMc upgrade).

Thank you guys for your comments.
I should have said warm instead of hot: I can keep my hands on it for a long period (was able to do it for 5 minutes even if it's not comfortable). According to SMc, that's normal, it is just heat coming off of it. But what a difference with the Stratos!
Thanks again.

100 degrees is only warm, not hot. Normal in my experience with my Rev. A DNA-1.

Kal

That might be fine for Ayre but heat damages parts like capacitors. I routinely have to rebias McCormack amps back to factory spec. At idle you should have no problem keeping your hands on the heatsinks for 10 secs at least.

I've had amps run even hotter than 100F (eg ~120F or more for an Ayre V3). Ayre technical support told me "heat is good"

I haven't checked the temperature, but I think it is more than 100 degrees F. Others amp that I used (eg: Odyssey Stratos) didn't run hot at all. I sent an email to McCormack about that and waiting for their comments. Hope this is not a big issue given all the good reviews about this amp.

Bias needs to be re-adjusted.

I think this is normal. I've had two. Both ran relatively hot.

Yes, it runs hot even when idle.

I have a DNA-1 Deluxe with Silver plus upgrades. The amp is running Magnestand MG-12s. I just checked the temp while idle and got 100 degrees. The amp is on 24/7.What is the temp of your amp at idle? Why do you think your amp runs hot?
Mike