Don’t buy used McCormack DNA 1990s amps

@jetter 

The one amp brought to me was fully functional. It had been back to CJ about 20 years ago for the input board replacement. That was just prior to the current owner purchasing it. It's worked perfectly for him during his time with it. He just wanted it refreshed and upgraded. 

The amp I bought as non-functional was killed by someone that tried to upgrade it. I was told "it smokes when it's turned on"  They broke a couple of traces and with their botched repairs ended up burning up the voltage reg circuitry. The DNA amps are not a good amp for a beginner to try and modify, especially when it comes to the input board.

So no, neither of these amps came to me due to the protection error from the input board problem. But it sounds like the first one I mentioned had been repaired for that issue prior.

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My older DNA-1 was running last I checked but the message wasn't hopeful.

I have talked with Steve perhaps twice over the years with and thought he was a straight shooter when he was helping me for free on small stuff on my amp.

Always hung onto it as a 'bullet-proof' backup amp, but maybe not...  :-(   Still a great amp but almost always sounds too warm on Raidhos, so sitting in storage.

So, to summarize, 

• It is not unusual for 30+ year old amplifiers to have problems, that in the case of the McCormack Audio amplifiers could be related to boards, capacitors, and/or other things.
• The board issue affects the older DNA-0.5,1,2 series amplifiers and not the newer DNA-125,225 amplifiers.
• McCormack Audio Corporation of Virginia maintains a website but no longer manufactures McCormack Audio amplifiers. 
• Repairs of existing McCormack Audio amplifiers, for the purpose of restoring operational function, can be obtained through Conrad-Johnson Design, Inc., i.e.:  "Service for McCormack products, including model and capacitor upgrades continues to be offered through our sister company, conrad-johnson design, inc."
• If you want your McCormack Audio amplifier upgraded to a higher performance level than when it was new, the most experienced and best-regarded company to perform that work is SMc Audio. 
• You can also have other people do stuff to your amplifier, or you can do stuff to it yourself, if you choose.
• Some people who have done stuff to their own amplifier have screwed it up.

@mitch2 your last bullet point is very relevant. We have amplifiers in use by customers that are now at their oldest over 40 and at their youngest nearing 30 years of age. We have seen similar issues with an input circuit board that over the years either through misuse, exposure to heat (poor ventilation) or aging is no longer useful or completely gives up the ghost. Unfortunately we sold out of replacements a couple years ago and made a difficult decision not to produce them any longer. It is interesting to note that these days many of the repair requests we receive come from people who have tried to modify or upgrade the amp themselves or through a third party with not so good results, or bought a modified unit unknowingly that was butchered. Unfortunately the cost to repair what was done and return the amp to original spec outweighs the value of the amp itself. There is something to be said for leaving well enough alone and trust that the designer of the unit knew what they were doing.

Wish I had been aware of soil's warning before I bought my used DNA in 2018 from someone on Audio Mart. Upon powering up it took two minutes to move from safety check to operational. When I inquired of the seller about the time, he said that was normal.The two minutes gradually became 3, 4,5 and then stopped becoming operational at all.  When I spoke to Patrick at SMcAudio he indicated the start up safely check should be 10 seconds or so..