I've got some B&K amps (ST-202 & Sonata EX-442) but a chance to pick up a McCormack DNA at a good price has arisen. Trying to pony up some spending money in case it's a wise choice.
I've lusted after the DNA 1, this model is the .5 however.
Looks like a slightly simplified board design internally, and power doesn't seem to be that reduced- advertised 100wpc/8 ohms for the .5 vs. 150wpc/8 ohms for the 1.
Looks like neither are a dual mono design- which I like in my EX-442.
Would the .5 also run cooler?
Need to power a variety of speakers- Dahlquist DQ-10s, aDs L1230s, AR 9LSIs, Vandersteen 2Cs and Thiel CS 2s.
your b&k's suffer from 'familiarity'...they're really good....you're speakers are classics too. you probably just just have a bug to spend.....really listen to your system like you used to, the bug will go away.
In the past I owned a B&K EX-4420 and ST-3030 amps. Not bad for the money, but the McCormack amps are worlds better. I had a standard DNA-1 and DNA delux monoblocks, never heard a 0.5. I say go for whatever McCormack amp your budget allows.
I had a 0.5 Delux and now have 1.0 delux monoblocks. I never had the standard 1.0. What I can tell you is that while the 0.5 delux is a very nice sounding amp for the money, it is far less resolving than the 1.0 delux monos. The 1.0's revealed some problems in upstream components. This lead me to replace the digital front end and preamp. At the end of all of this, my system was worlds better than when I started. The post from Shakeydeal above does not draw a huge distinction between the 1.0 standard and 1.0 delux monoblocks, so maybe my experience will be of some value to you. By the way, both run cool. Not much difference there.
I would guess you could get a stock DNA-1 or a DNA-0.5 Rev. A for about the same price, so unless you really need that extra power I would think the considerable sonic improvements of the Rev. A mods would far outweigh the DNA-1 power advantage. But hey, if you need the power you need the power. The nice thing is you could try a 0.5 Rev. A and if you find you need more power you can sell it with virtually no loss given the constant demand for these amps.
By the way, the DNA-0.5 really puts out more like 125wpc (as per Steve himself), it's just very conservatively rated as probably is the DNA-1. I've had other 100wpc amps in my system and the DNA-0.5 definitely sounded like a relatively bigger and more powerful amp.
I own a DNA .5 Deluxe and it is hard to fault at all, being musical and revealing yet smooth. I bought it after reading user comparisons with the DNA 1. Most stating in base form, the DNA 1 is very good but the .5 was something a bit more special, even more so if a Deluxe or Rev. upgrade. I personally wouldn't spend more on the DNA 1 unless I really needed more power vs. the .5's refinement.
The DNA .5 is the better sounding amp and it has plenty of power to handle almost anything. I have owned all of the DNAs including the .5, 1 and 2. I have a standard .5 which I think outperforms the 1.0 Deluxe.
The .5 always had the reputation of being more refined than the 1. Yes, the 1 has more power, as does the 500. But unless you really need the power I think you would do better with a .5, most especially if you can get it to Rev A status.
The rev A versions of these amps are a whole different breed than the standard or deluxe versions.
If you can buy a 0.5 Rev a for the price of a 1.0 dlx, then one of the amps is incorrectly priced. The Rev A of either is an entirely different amp and competes way above its "weight".
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