McCormacks -- For lovers and investors

Someone should’ve done their homework.  While I agree that’s a steep price for that amp, what makes it infinitely worse is that DNA amps from that era have input boards that are now failing, and when that happens — and it will happen likely sooner than later — the new owner will have little more than a $1612 boat anchor as it’s not repairable.  I know this because I have a dead DNA-0.5 Rev. A circa late ‘90s sitting in my basement right now that in all likelihood has (as per SMcAudio, which is why I know it’s not repairable) suffered that exact fate.  I’m afraid overpaying for the amp is the least of the buyer’s worries at this point.  

Hopefully the ebay buyer’s DNA-0.5 amp will not suffer the same fate as yours - at least not in the near future.

@mitch2 — Hate to be a negative Nellie but unfortunately it absolutely will fail. I spoke with SMcAudio about it directly and they said the input boards of that era are physically at the end of their lives and not possible to repair or replace and that the rest of the guts are basically trash. Not what I wanted to hear. They said the only viable option would be to use the carcass for one of their upgrades that replace everything, which is what I plan to do as I really loved my amp before it went kaput and can’t wait to hear how much better the new upgrades will sound. Now just need to save up enough shekels to git’er done.

Incidentally, what do you think are the standout sonic strengths of your SMcAmps vs. stock (if you’ve ever heard that) and what other amps have you compared them to? Also, what level upgrades did you consider and why did you choose the Ultimate-G? Not sure if it was you, but I remember someone saying the new bases are very worthwhile. I’m not familiar with Steve’s latest upgrades so appreciate your thoughts having gone through this. Thanks for any thoughts/advice!

What about the conrad Johnson made McCormack branded amps?

Sorry @arcticdeth, I only know about older DNA amps but I’m sure if you contact SMcAudio (or CJ) they’d be able to tell you.  I’d tend to doubt they used the same input boards considering those amps came out later and may well have used CJ-sourced components, but that’s just a guess and there’s only one way to know for sure.  I’d be curious to know what you find out.