Mccormack DNA125 or Belles 150A Hot Rod

Both amps are (of course) good (great to some) and always brought to the head of the class when someone asks "what amp should I buy" (?). Butttttt. There are others. Many others. If all we had was Belles and McCormack, they could change the name of this website to the Belles and Mac hour.
OK... I'll bite. If I'm so smart, then list some. OK. They are ALL listed under AMPS (SS and Tube), right here on Audiogon. I have a MUSE 160mkII (currently). That amp (btw) is is the same price and power range (and a better amp..imho). Thats just one. I've went through a couple of McCormacks (have a couple of McCormack pieces now) and have had a few Belles amps (one of which was the venerable "450"... the Apogee thumper). But the point... is, not how many of the two I've owned, but how many OTHER amps are out there to concider. Pardon the pun, but Belles and McCormack are starting to sound like a broken record.

Time for a breath of fresh Ayre from those two.

Tubby

I think that perhaps the name McCormack is just easy to pronounce. It falls off the edge of my lips easier than "Goldmund" or "Muse". Try saying "MUSE" 15 times in a row. You will have goat footed men running far and ye. The hills are alive with the sound of this stuff.

Tubby

"Sometimes" It is just not about "power. I had a good friend that used a DNA-1 (deluxe) with a pair of Scintilla's. Small room, not a real hard rocker. The amp that finally won out (for his tastes and need) was a N.E.W. DCA-33 ..... 'bout 30 watts (or so a side, on batteries). go figure.

I guess that I'm curious Steve; are you going to do a Arron Spelling commemorative piece of some sort (or has that era now truly passed away) ?

Tubby

You seem to have hit the topic upon it's pointed little head. Sometimes the bottom line depends upon the depth of the green valley we sit on. A quick glance at the McCormack amps for sale (here on Agon) shows a 4 to 1 or even 5 to 1 ratio (between the 125 and 500). I guess when you have the need for 4 or 5 real good amps and just can't miss another meal (or payment on your beemer), the 125 would just "have" to do. Lets see now, where did I put those Apogee Full Ranges ?
It all just boils down to ones tastes and budget (usually not in that order). I like McCormack equipment. I am now on my THIRD TLC (although my first was a "new" Mod Squad Line Drive). Today I am anxiously awaiting a Philips CDM 12.1 for my older, inoperable McCormack SST-1 Transport. I hope that it works. I hate to see the thing go.

Back to the thread, I think that if money is an issue, and the only choice is between the Belles and McCormack, I would pick the McCormack. The Belles has its strenghs, but the McCormack always leans on the side of music. It is the "pace" and finite quickness that shows through with the McCormacks. It's the little things (the McCormacks have) that make musicical nuances an individual fraction of the art as whole. I have always found that in McCormack equipment. I found it in Belles as well, but not to the degree that the Mac's have it.
Just my 2 cents.

Tubby