Pass amp vs McCormack with Silver/Gold upgrades...

Jim,
I wouldn't say that the Mapleshade are bright, but they do lean toward the transparent side of neutral. I have heard brighter cables though.

John

Jmcgrogan2 said-

I have a feeling that the B&K will be a disappointment, as it is far from the best SS and going back to SS after tubes is not easy to begin with.

Yeah, that was where I was going. I'd call them entry level high end while the DNAs, esp. the 0.5, were high end bargains. OTOH, @ $27, what's not to like??? As far as cables go, lots of 'goners like Paul Speltz Anti-cables @ $10/ft.

River251: There is a DNA 0.5 here on A'Gon right now with upgrades by Steve McCormack, asking $649, which looks like a whole lot of amp value for the $. Jmcrogan2 is indeed correct that the 10:1 impedance "rule of thumb" should be taken with a large grain of salt, and in many instances should be much higher. When I paired the CJ Act 2 Series (500 Ohm output impedance) with McIntosh MC452 (22 KOhm input), there was a loss of air, high frequency detail and bass roll off, such that neither of these great components showed its true colors.

Sorry River251, it was not my intention to redirect this thread but jmcgrogan2 mentioned the economy previously and got me going.

I could not find the DNA 0.5 with upgrades only the deluxe model. It has probably already been sold as items are automatically deleted upon a final sale. It is also important to find out when the upgrades were performed as Steve McCormack added star grounding which lowers the noise floor thus allowing the most intricate details to come through.

Thanks all. Actually Swampwalker I called Paul to see if he would make me some 6" adapters to go from the tiny screw posts on my vintage amps to some bananas, and buy some jumpers, and he called back this morning. Before I got off the phone he sold me 48 ft of wire and 8 bananas (plugs, I mean) and he threw in some solder so it looks like I am going to try the antiwires before I try the mapleshades. I have no discipline.

Phd that's the .5 I was talking about. I offered him 500, he countered with 600. It was just too close to what I can get a 1 for, since I'm going to eventually get Steve's silver or gold upgrade. Not to repeat myself but I think Chris said after the upgrades the .5 vs 1 advantage will be diminished and it will be good to have the power for unknown future speakers. Besides I should not have even entertained spending that right now. My aim is more clarity and I think people who have suggested focusing on the preamp right now are right, so these funds should be going that way.

Didn't mean not to talk about the economy, you can talk about it all you want, I was just refusing to participate. If you think I'm bad going on and on about hifi....besides I get more than enough economy keeping up with the market in fear for my 403B.

Jim