Don’t buy used McCormack DNA 1990s amps

@soix - you cannot say that the board cannot be repaired by anyone.  Do you do repair work yourself?  Any product can be repaired unless the parts cannot be identified or there are no replacement parts available.  That being said, you do not have to get a new board made, you can simply made the part point-to-point wired and get rid of the board altogether.  But you need a competent repair person like we do.  

Well done, Soix!

Great; another "expert" extrapolating from a sample size of 1.

Audio Research Corp will not repair their solid state amps. They say it is not possible. 

A stupid story. I bought my McCormack DNA.5 Deluxe from Progressive Audio on High Street in Columbus OH in 1996 or so. Shortly before, Steve had come to Progressive to give a presentation and promote his gear. There were maybe thirty people in attendance including Progressive's staff who were known to be a bit arrogant. I wanted to mentally justify the purchase and when Steve was taking questions from the audience I sheepishly asked if his amps had a finite life span and if so, how long. The whole audience seemed to let out a collective groan that I had asked the most stupid question imaginable. 

I too bought my McCormack DNA 0.5 power amp and the TLC-1 pre amp from Progressive Audio in the late 90's. I had a friend who was a great Stereophile with the keenest of ears. He took me to Progressive to listen to high end equipment like Wilson speakers and a Mark Levinson CD transport and separate DAC that then cost $20K. The point was to hear high end and then listen to the McCormack gear. To see the great SQ I could get for so much less; about $3k for the McCormack combination.

Many years later I had some problems with the TLC and that''s when I contacted SMcAudio and started working with Pat, who ran their upgrade program. In the end, based on Pat's sound, experienced advice, I instead upgraded the DNA 0.5. which at that point was still working fine but Pat felt was the better place to start in upgrading my system. Along with other of his suggestions; dedicated 20 amp circuit, Furutech receptacles and quality power cords; which I implemented.

Pat was superb to work with. No high pressure sales pitches just working to get me the best quality and results I could afford. I've never regretted following his directions and for the $2500 I put into the DNA upgrade, I have an amp that's would have cost 3x or 4x more!! If you can find their old gear at a reasonable price it's an excellent option to have them upgrade it. By the way, I decided to let go of the TLC. Pat had clients who were eager for it and so I sold it to SMcAudio for $450; a fair deal. Now some other lucky person has an upgraded TLC which I'm sure makes them very pleased!! 

Really appreciated this dialogue!!!!