McCormack DNA-1 Use Cases

[crockwaxi]

Hey Guys, I got a question from a super noob audiophile. Hopefully can get some good guidance here. I currently have a small setup with a Peach Tree Nova300 DAC, KEF Q950s, KEF LS50, and Audio Technica Turntable. I also have in storage a set of Infinity Blue Dot (circa 2002) Towers in excellent condition and a couple of Polk Audio subs, don't remember off the top of my head what series.
As for my listening preferences. 80% of the time I stream industrial house music through my gear and the other 20% I run my 12" vinyls on the AT of the same or similar genre.
I just got this big amp passed down to me from my pops which is a McCormack DNA-1 in perfect working order. I want to rebuild it and I read in some other forums that Steve McCormack does these at SMc audio. For me it is more of a "keep it in the family" sort of thing so I want to make a project out of this and redo my entire stack to bring the "new" McCormack into the stack, whatever that stack looks like. So I am just fetching ideas to see if anyone has some good pointers or ideas on new gear to integrate or match some of what I already have. I am 80% noob at this so I would fail any blind test of this versus that. Just need some solid guidance on ways I can keep this "renewed" amp in the family and enjoy it with my listening preferences. Think in terms of the big bass airy club sound you would get at a European music festival. I only have the one MC, if I had two I would send them both in and convert them to monoblocks. But that is not the case.
Any ideas would be highly appreciated. Thank you!!!!!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I can't be bothered to check for impedance curves of your speakers, but a cursory look tells me that you'd be downgrading in terms of power from 300WPC clean ICE power on the peach tree to 150W legacy bias AB design amp.
I get the nostalgia factor and you could use your Nova300 preamp output to wire in the McCormack amp.
Try it - you may like the warm sound or not. Again, I expect Mc to have a smaller dynamic range (less clean volume) than your Peachtree built-in amp

 

[everettT]

Hey Guys, I got a question from a super noob audiophile. Hopefully can get some good guidance here. I currently have a small setup with a Peach Tree Nova300 DAC, KEF Q950s, KEF LS50, and Audio Technica Turntable. I also have in storage a set of Infinity Blue Dot (circa 2002) Towers in excellent condition and a couple of Polk Audio subs, don't remember off the top of my head what series.
As for my listening preferences. 80% of the time I stream industrial house music through my gear and the other 20% I run my 12" vinyls on the AT of the same or similar genre.
I just got this big amp passed down to me from my pops which is a McCormack DNA-1 in perfect working order. I want to rebuild it and I read in some other forums that Steve McCormack does these at SMc audio. For me it is more of a "keep it in the family" sort of thing so I want to make a project out of this and redo my entire stack to bring the "new" McCormack into the stack, whatever that stack looks like. So I am just fetching ideas to see if anyone has some good pointers or ideas on new gear to integrate or match some of what I already have. I am 80% noob at this so I would fail any blind test of this versus that. Just need some solid guidance on ways I can keep this "renewed" amp in the family and enjoy it with my listening preferences. Think in terms of the big bass airy club sound you would get at a European music festival. I only have the one MC, if I had two I would send them both in and convert them to monoblocks. But that is not the case.
Any ideas would be highly appreciated. Thank you!!!!!

Have you ever had an amp serviced where they've gone through and updated or replaced transistors or otherwise? It's not cheap. The last time I had channel only repaired for an old Mcintosh and it was around $800 and that was back in 2000. If the original design speced well, it may be worth it, but the majority of times, compared to a lot of new amps, it's not worth it. If sentimental value is involved, do what ever it takes to make you happy.

 

[Swerd]

I just got this big amp passed down to me from my pops which is a McCormack DNA-1 in perfect working order. I want to rebuild it and I read in some other forums that Steve McCormack does these at SMc audio.

If it is in 'perfect' working order, why rebuild it? Shipping plus rebuilding won't be cheap. Seriously, If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It.

BoredSysAdmin pointed out that the power output of your Peach Tree Nova300, at 300 Watts per channel into 8 ohms and 450 Wpc into 4 ohms is somewhat more powerful than the McCormack DNA-1 is, at 150 Wpc into 8 ohms, 300Wpc into 4 ohms. I agree. Both are potent amps, but at best, it would be a lateral move. Go ahead and give it a try, and see what you think. You can do that now without spending money to rebuild it.

… Hopefully can get some good guidance here. I currently have a small setup with a Peach Tree Nova300 DAC, KEF Q950s, KEF LS50, and Audio Technica Turntable. I also have in storage a set of Infinity Blue Dot (circa 2002) Towers in excellent condition and a couple of Polk Audio subs, don't remember off the top of my head what series.

Your KEF speakers don't look like they are particularly hard to drive. KEF suggests powering the Q950s with an amp rated at 15-200 W. KEF claims a 91 dB sensitivity (when driven at 1 Watt while measuring how loud at 1 meter), and claims impedance at 8 ohms, 3.2 ohms minimum. For the LS50s KEF suggests 40-100 W, says their sensitivity is 85 dB, and claims 8 ohms impedance, 3.5 ohms minimum. KEF says both of these are 8 ohm speakers, but I think both are more like 4 ohms. They can easily be driven by either of your amps.

So I am just fetching ideas to see if anyone has some good pointers or ideas on new gear to integrate or match some of what I already have.

The McCormack is an external amplifier. It requires an separate pre-amp. Your Peach Tree is an integrated amp that combines pre-amp and amp sections inside one box. It also includes a DAC and the circuits needed for turntable playback. Fortunately, Peach Tree built it so you can use the Nova300 as a pre-amp, while running an external amp. Run a pair of RCA interconnect cables from the pre-amp output jacks on the Peach Tree (below) to the McCormack input jacks (next photo down).

Stack the Peach Tree on top of the larger & heavier McCormack. Be sure to leave the heat sinks on either side uncovered so they can breathe.

Then connect the Peach Tree to the McCormack as described above, connect your speakers to the output terminals on the McCormack, plug in the AC power cords, and switch them on.

 

[crockwaxi]

Hey Guys, I got a question from a super noob audiophile. Hopefully can get some good guidance here. I currently have a small setup with a Peach Tree Nova300 DAC, KEF Q950s, KEF LS50, and Audio Technica Turntable. I also have in storage a set of Infinity Blue Dot (circa 2002) Towers in excellent condition and a couple of Polk Audio subs, don't remember off the top of my head what series.
As for my listening preferences. 80% of the time I stream industrial house music through my gear and the other 20% I run my 12" vinyls on the AT of the same or similar genre.
I just got this big amp passed down to me from my pops which is a McCormack DNA-1 in perfect working order. I want to rebuild it and I read in some other forums that Steve McCormack does these at SMc audio. For me it is more of a "keep it in the family" sort of thing so I want to make a project out of this and redo my entire stack to bring the "new" McCormack into the stack, whatever that stack looks like. So I am just fetching ideas to see if anyone has some good pointers or ideas on new gear to integrate or match some of what I already have. I am 80% noob at this so I would fail any blind test of this versus that. Just need some solid guidance on ways I can keep this "renewed" amp in th omegle e family and enjoy it with my listening preferences. Think in terms of the big bass airy club sound you would get at a European music festival. I only have the one MC, if I had two I would send them both in and convert them to monoblocks. But that is not the case.
Any ideas would be highly appreciated. Thank you!!!!!

issue got solved!

 

[Verdinut]

issue got solved!

How did you solve it?

 

[Verdinut]

@everettT ,

What's wrong with my questioning? I think you clicked on the wrong icon, didn't you?

 

[everettT]

@everettT ,

What's wrong with my questioning? I think you clicked on the wrong icon, didn't you?

Yes, my bad. Fat fingers gets me a lot