Review: McCormack DNA-250 Amplifier

Category: Amplifiers

First a disclaimer; I am neither an electrical engineer nor an artist. I am just a consumer of fine audio like most of you, so my review is based on my listening experience. I mostly listen to jazz and rock, but sometimes I will put on a classical recording.

I've had my Ohm Walsh 5000's for about 9 months and was powering them with my 1991 Sumo Polaris II, a Bongiorno design that is still considered a fine amp, which is rated at 130W pc. Since the spec sheet for the Ohms recommends no less than 80W nor more than 350W I was on the lower end. I selected the McCormack based on the reputation of the previous products and price. Since McCormack himself at SMc Audio offers upgrades of its predecessor the DNA-225 (indicating that it can benefit from upgrading), I tended to believe that when C-J bought the company they took the 225, made some improvements and called it the 250, but left the essential design elements of Steve McCormack. Keep in mind that in my way of thinking the hierarchy of importance in audio are the speakers, followed by the preamp, with the amp being the least contributory (assuming the power matches the speakers needs).

The price was listed as being on sale for about 35% off, which may be a sales tactic and hence the usual price. There are no other dealers than Spearit Sound, but their service was excellent and they talked to me on the phone first. Fill in the card and you have a 3-year warranty. It arrived by UPS unscathed, and carrying the 72-pound package up the stairs was not bad. Side by side, the McCormack dwarfed the venerable Sumo and at 53# it's heavy, especially at the front. It's all strictly business with the minimalist styling and lack of glowing power meters and other touches that would be window dressing. One set of gold unbalanced RCA inputs on the back with plugs for one set of speakers. The overall impression is one of massive engineering and quality. After plugging it in, there was an annoying hum that turned out to be a ground loop, no fault of the unit. After trying various grounding maneuvers, I finally got an extension cord and plugged the amp only into another outlet. This isn't supposed to help, but the problem was solved.

My review included use of vinyl, CD's, SACD's, mp3, and some fm. Overall, I would say that while the Sumo was musical, the McCormack was both musical and muscular. It was as if my speakers got larger, capable of moving more air especially at lower frequencies. The speaker specs say down to 25hz and now you can hear it. Although I found it hard to believe the sound stage was expanded slightly side-to-side and more noticeably front to back. Put on The Doors "Crystal Ship" and it sounds like I'm in a room the size of my high school gym. There are layers of pleasant vocal harmonics, thanks to my tube preamp. Even the mp3's on my iPhone sound great, though these are the Purple Chick versions of Abbey Road and have a high sampling rate of 1411 kbps. FM is particularly improved to the point that it becomes quite pleasant.

As luck would have it, I left the unit on all night- it was just lukewarm in the morning, loafing along which is good since this isn't standard rack width and air currents are needed around the unit. Any criticisms? Well the power on led is a bit tiny and hard to see when it's lit, but honestly that's it. This is an ultra high quality, powerful SS amp that is capable of powering even the least inefficient speaker designs to perfection. It mates well to my all tube preamp, providing powerful clean bass notes. Was my Sumo excellent? Yes. Does the McCormack sound better? Absolutely. Was it worth it? For me, yes since I could justify it as a 20+ year investment. What other electronic item can you say that about?

Tested with ProJect 5.1, carbon graphite arm, AT33-EV, Raphaelite PM 1.1 step up transformer, NAD PP3 phono amp for vinyl; Ming Da MD300 APS preamp with NOS 6SN7 (RCA smoked glass VT-231's) and Genelex Golden Lion 300B's; Onkyo C-55VL for CD's & SACD's; Sansui TU-919 for FM; iPod and iPhone for mp3. Ohm Walsh 5000’s in Bubinga with braided 8 strand Monster Cable (Litzendraht design) wire. All connecting cables shielded Monster Cable, gold RCA plugs. All common power (except amp) plugged into Tripp-Lite isobar ultra.

Associated gear
Ohm Walsh 5000