Great, detailed dynamic sound.

none

To say that I love the sound of this amp is an understatement. It brought life to what was already a very musical system. Detailed, dynamic and musical, with an incredible sound stage. Instruments and vocals sound more lifelike with the .5. My Creek 4330 is and was a sweet little amp and an incredible bargain, but I always felt that my Sound Dynamics 300 ti's needed a little more juice. So I bought a DNA.5 and used the 4330 as my preamp. Detailed, detailed, and musical. What more can I say. An absolute bargain for what this gem does to music.

thomps when shutting down the unit and turning on the unit

Review for a RevB 0.5. Had a chance to compare this with the normal 0.5. This unit sounds way better than the stock unit. Deeper soundstage--more depth & width, liquid midrange, more transparent, grainless highs and deep authorative low end.

Never regretted buying one!

Similar Products Used:

a lot... Musical Fidelity, Krell, Classe, Sonic Frontiers, Anthem, Plinius, etc

Imaging, bass control, resolution, sweet yet airy & detailed highs, smooth mids

Hurts to pick up

I recently bought a used DNA 0.5 with Rev. A mod hoping it would improve my system, but I wasn't prepared for the extent of the overall improvement.

My opinion of amps had been that they are extremely important but fall lower on the totem pole than speakers, source components, and preamps in terms of their impact on the overall sound. I'm no longer sure where they fall in importance, but I now know they play a huge part in putting together a coherent system.

A few months ago I purchased a pair of Soliloquy 5.3s after being awed by them at a local dealer who was driving them with Manly tubes and an Electrocompaniet integrated. I had heard most everything in the $2000 to $3000 range, but as soon as I heard these I knew I was done. Got them home and hooked them up to the amp section of my old NAD 7250PE receiver. I figured since the 5.3s are tube friendly a 60w solid state amp should have no trouble driving them and that I could live with this setup for a while. Well, while much of the magic was there the highs were a bit hard and the lows were boomy despite trying all possible speaker placements in my smallish living room.

Then I saw a 0.5 rev A for sale on this site and thought I'd give it a try since it was a product I'd always been interested in anyway. Immediately I heard the highs were much more natural and the bass tightened up considerably, so much so that I found myself listening to songs I previously had been avoiding because the bass overpowered my room(I thought). In addition, the imaging became much more precise and tonality of instruments, especially drums and piano, became much more real.

In short, this amp literally brought my system together so that I can't find any significant faults and am insanely happy with the clarity and realism of the performances that are occurring in my living room. I now know how important amplifiers are in optimizing any system and how important it is to find the right match for equipment within a system. Synergy is tough to find but so worth the effort.

Associated equipment:
Pioneer DV C302D DVD player(as transport)
EVS Millenium DAC
Rotel RSP980 pre/pro
Soliloquy 5.3 speakers
DH Labs cables

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Linn

It just plain sounds great! Truly a best buy product!

Rear power connector is too big(?), loose(?) on mine.

This is for the DNA-0.5 Deluxe, which I had upgraded to a B+ version by SMC Audio about 8 months ago. When I originally put the amp in my system I noticed a major improvement in sound over the Adcom. Everything sounded much better, especially the soundstaging, bass and detail. I lived with this for about 6 months before I had SMC Audio upgrade it to a B+ model. Both Steve and Kris where excellent to deal with and very helpful with all my before/after questions. It took a few weeks, but I was amazed by the difference the B+ upgrade made. At first glance, the strengths I noticed originally were all heightened. The upgrade also added more breadth and presence to the sound. I then switched from the stock power cord to a Shunyata Sidewinder. It transformed the amp. It seemed as if the all the upgrades were now coming through. I now understand why everyone says this amp is a best buy! Because it is!!

Bottom line, if you cannot afford to buy a new DNA-125, try getting a 0.5 or a 0.5 deluxe. They are great amps and the upgrades simply transport them to a higher level, and they are worth every penny. BUT....be sure to get a good power cable. If you don't, you won't be able to hear all the great, sweet music these amps can provide.

P.S. This amp is a synergistic match for the NHT 2.5i speakers.

Current system:
Amp: McCormack DNA-0.5 Deluxe B+ upgrade.
Pre: PS Audio 4.6 (Always in straightline mode), soon to be replaced by a Bottlehead Foreplay, or a Rogue 66.
CD: Dennon DCD-1290 as a transport only.
D/A: MSB Link III (no current mods).
Speakers: NHT 2.5i
Cables: Interconnects-AQ Lapis,Bottlehead Entwined Interconnects (a better match than the AQ cables); Digital-Max Rochlin Memorial cable; Speaker-AQ Indigo (shotgunned).
Power Conditioner: AudioPrism Power Foundation III.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GFA-545II

I think this amp is overated . Sounds a bit soft and not much bass from it.For much less , get tha audiolab 8000a instead.

Here's an update from my December 1997 review (BTW: because of severe typing impairment the first line of my 12/97 review should read "I am now the owner...").
I recently upgraded my preamp to a tubed unit (see my review of the Audio Prism Mantissa). The DNA .5 Deluxe is a perfect match for tubes. Because of it's 100Kohm input impedance it mates well with both passive and tubed equipment. Most regular amps use a 60Kohm impedance which is OK, but not perfect. Got to love this combo!

Anyway, the DNA.5 - Mantissa combo presents an incredible soundstage, both wider and deeper than before. Instruments are more clearly in their own space. The music is beautifully balanced and transparent. No loss of detail by moving from the TLC-1 passive to the active Mantissa, which was one prime concern of mine. The mids are INCREDIBLE. The bass did not change - still tight and fast despite the reputation of tubes. The main reason for my upgrade was to get more life and dynamics into the music than a passive can deliver. I highly recommend this preamp with the DNA.5 Deluxe.

In a nutshell, the McCormack DNA .5 Deluxe is the one piece of equipment in my system that is definitely not going anywhere. The upgrade bug may bite in many other places, but this amp is here to stay.

As for the Krell comments in previous reviews: Some people need the faceplate and a "name". Some want better sound and more musical enjoyment. I'm obviously not afraid of finding value in less well known equipment (i.e. Audio Prism, DIY Belden 89259 interconnects, DIY Scanspeak 717 speakers, etc.). But then again, I'm looking for long term enjoyment and not flipping equipment in and out of my system.

After setting out looking for an amp to move me beyond my much loved but limitedNaim Nait 2, I eventually had the DNA 0.5 at home for a demo from local dealer. Combined in my system with the Parasound Hp850 pre-amp, using a basic Rotel cd and Rega 3 up front, and kimber 4tc speaker cables, this turned out to be the best amp I have heard in my system. Having previously tried the parasound HCA 1000 and then the NAD 218 (both of which I reviewed in this site), the MCormack finally did it for me. Out of the box it was fine, but two weeks later it was finer. The amp really did break in gracefully and now offers some of the smoothest power ever to push my Kef 103/2s.

Sound is pretty much what most people here have already stated: Detailed, airy, nice bass extension, ample power, and musical. This is exactly what I was looking for and I liked it so much, I didn't argue too much with the dealer over the price hike just introduced before my demo. I set out looking for an amp to last me 10 years, and this is one that I fully expect to live with that long.

Note, this is not the deluxe version, which is supposedly noticeably better....I felt no need to pay extra since this 'ordinary' version is really extraordinary! And according to the dealer, should I so decide to go for it, McCormack will do a conversion for me at the price difference. Anyway, now I need a new preamp, and that TLC-1 is looking attractive. I'll report on that in due course. for now, this is really the amp that the reviews suggest and I have no hesitation recommending it to others.

A best value in S'phile class B. Period. Powerful, responsive, clean, and dynamic. For the money, 0.5 deluxe is worth every penny. If new in the market, try this baby for any music, you will discover how much you've been missing. 6 stars if I could!

I'm not the proud owner of a McCormack DNA.5 Deluxe and TLC-1 combo. I use the TLC-1 in its passive mode, so the amp and the source (Cal Labs DX2) are mostly responsible for the sound. It's awesome. Bass is tight and controlled, nothing muffled here. Top end is airy with tons of presence and soundstaging - even from the next room. Mids are warm and full, breathy when needed and powerful when called for.
I now understand what reviewers call the pace of an amp - unexplainable unless you've heard it. The DNA.5 deluxe has rhythm and bounce to spare. Thoroughly enjoyable and engaging. That's what it's all about anyway!

This is one incredible sounding stereo amp. Highly recommeded and true value for the money. Spend the money-get the deluxe-it is worth it. (See my review of the Micro Line Drive preamp)I do not understand detractors but nothing is so good that somebody somewhere won't absolutely hate it. I LOVE IT!