McCormack Silver vs. Gold revision for DNA-125?

Not sure about silver v. gold, but I can tell you that my DNA-0.5 Rev A+ was an exceptional amplifier.

I cannot speak to the Silver or Gold revisions, but others speak glowingly of them. I can tell you that I very recently had my DNA-225 upgraded to Platinum status and the results are absolutely mind-blowing. It is one of the finest amps I've ever heard, in or out of my system. Review coming soon.

Not sure about the silver or gold, but I replaced my DNA-2 LAE (limited anniversary edition) amp with DNA-2 Revision A (one step behind the gold).

The DNA-2 Rev. A amp is easily the finest I've heard. I've owned it for almost 2.5 years now and after previously owning about 6 other amps, I still have no desire to upgrade this amp. Unless perhaps it were to a Gold or Platinum version.

-IMO

I don't have any revisions (yet... :-) on my DNA-125, but if you hear much graininess (not sure what 'grunty' means as a complaint), I would ask if you're leaving yours permanently powered-on. Not turning mine off seems to eliminate just about all significant hints of grain by day 2.

BTW, on a tangent, I've recently played around with auditioning my 125 hooked up to only one speaker, to make the comparison with my tube monoblocks more fair in terms of power supply demand vs. capacity. The results hint tantilizingly at what may be expected from an SMC power supply upgrade (only Platinum upgrades the power transformer), not to mention monoblock conversion.

After hearing my Platinum upgraded 225, I'd kill to hear a monoblock pair. Oh, I'm saving. :-)

HI. I left mine on for a couple of days, and most of the grain is gone! It is also much smoother-the low end "grunt" with the bass is mostly gone. Unfortunately, leaving it on uses lots of power, which is expensive and in short supply, so it really isn't an option.

It still isn't quite as grain-free as the HCA-2 I was comparing it to, but much closer in performance. I think I will keep the DNA-125 and just get it upgraded-it should be a killer amp!

Hi Dawgcatching -

I'm pleased to hear that you are enjoying your DNA-125. I just want to mention that it does not consume very much power at idle, at least relatively speaking. At something like 80 Watts, it uses less juice than many other high performance amps. You may still prefer to economize on electricity, which is admirable. A good compromise is to turn it on early in the day, and off again at night. This will give you most of the advantages of leaving it on and still save a considerable amount of power.

Best regards,

Steve McCormack
www.SMcAudio.com

Dawg, My advice would be to get as much done as possible with one trip back to SMc Audio. The minimum upgrade I would consider is the Gold. If you get the Silver, you will always wonder....
"How much difference will it make?" and "is it worth it?" are two great questions, but your opinion is really the only one that matters.
It seems like a gamble to lay down your hard earned cash to get the answers, but in this case it isn't. If SMc offers an upgrade, it's worth it.