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presently have a b&k 2220 amp with 1.6 maggies.looking to upgrade to either the bryston 4bsst or the mccormack dna225.i know the bryston is current driven and more than capable,but don't know if the mccormack is up to the task.am leaning toward the mccormack because of all the positive reviews.just worried if it is under powered[current],the maggies are very current hungry.would appreciate any and all comments on this.thanks.
Follow Ups:
...you will never hear what the maggies can really do unless you pair them with tubes. A good 100/channel tube amp will make them come to life. There are plenty of choices out there in your price range. Scrap the SS idea.
I auditioned Maggie 1.6QR's a few years ago, and they were fed with a pair of Bryston 7B mono's. They sounded terrific together...A friend of mine runs a Bryston 4BST with his Martin Logan SL3's. I don't know how the SL3's compare to the 1.6QR's in current-sucking-power-eating, but the SL3's do seem relatively hungry. His Bryston just gets on with it and makes music.
That said, I bought a McCormack (DNA-125) for my rig. I find the Brystons a little less harmonically rich. I think that's what BobH was getting at, you have to find a "house sound" you like. IMO you can't get too much different (with SS) in terms of presentation than Bryston and McCormack... They're just different sounding.
I think either would be a fantastic choice, IMO. The Bryston warranty ROCKS (my friend has used it), and I'm definitely going with Steve McCormack's mods when they come out for the DNA-125 series (225 is coming, too)... So both have their pluses.
Try to have a listen, preferably in your rig, as let us know what turns out best. I am thinking the McCormack would sound better, but then I'm biased ;)
These are both great amps and I'm sure either one would perform well. As a McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe Rev-A gold owner I'm a little biased but wanted to point out that Steve McCormack is working on an upgrade series of packages for the new amps made by Conrad Johnson, similar to what he's doing now for the old DNA line. This would give you an option if you ever wanted to get the revisions done by SMC Audio. Steves amps with his Rev-A upgrades are a step way above the stock models and will compete with anything out there. See www.smcaudio.com for what he offers, what he will be doing for the new line will be very similar.
my good friend ran Revision A DNA 1 with 1.6s and it was pretty nice sounding. He eventually moved to 45 SET/Horns, so both are gone now. I would think that the 225 would be sufficient, along with the Bryston.I've toyed w/the idea of searching out a DNA 1 Rev.A for my Dynaudio Contour 3.0s, in place of the little Belles Hot Rod I'm running now. I just need a bit more horsepower since moving the speakers out into the room, away from the corners and away from the side walls.
There are always a couple of clean DNA-1 Deluxes on Audiogon. I got one last week for $950. The SMC Audio rev-A upgrade is $1,000 plus $80 for Cardas posts if you want and the $450 Plitron toriodal transformer upgrade and you have a DNA-1 Rev-A Gold for $2,480. I am getting the one I just purchased upgraded to this level(same as my current amp) and at the same time both of my amps will be converted to mono blocks for an additional $450. You'd have to pay upwards of $10K to get mono blocks of this quality. I can't wait to get this done, scheduled a trip to Steve McCormacks house for June 6th. You might consider buying a used Deluxe and have Steve gutt and rebuild, it's like getting a brand new amp Vs. buying a used Rev-A.
Are you telling me Steve is doing mods to individual amps? Doesn't he have better things to do (president of a company, new lines of products, working with cj etc.)?
Steves role with CJ is not what you are assuming. He sold them his designs and he consults for them. I mean come on, he lives in S. California and McCormack Audio is in Virginia or West Virginia, I don't remember which off the top of my head. Per a conversation I had with him he's not on CJ's payroll. He probably gets a royalty on units Sold, who knows.
I can't wait to get my DNA-125 modded... I'm going for his Rev A mods, which includes the same stuff as his Rev A Gold for the older amps... I'm undecided about the trafo yet, tho. Is the Plitron worth it, you think?
I don't know what wattages you are talking about but let's assume one is 100 w/ch and the other 150 w/ch. I suspect the difference in sound may not be significant just based on wattage (it's logarithmic). Instead I suspect any differences will be due to the designs of the amps and their "sound."There is a nice little chart in an article in Sound&Vision by David Rananda that shows, for example, that the difference between 100 and 150 watts is only 1.76 dBW which is nearly inaudible.
I went from 105 w/ch McIntosh to 500 w/ch Classe' for my 1.6QR Maggies and the difference was enormous. I suspect it takes that kind of jump for the power output to make a "sound" difference. The Maggies sound just as good at low volumes now as they do loud. But when I compared amps at 100-200 w/ch the differences did not correspond to wattage. Design (brand) was the thing.
So I suggest you try to listen to both brands and take the time to "live" with them (not A/B test). Pick the one that sounds more musical day-in and day-out.
As for reviews; well I give up on them. I read them but get little help from them. All their subjective terms are useless in comparing equipment. Too bad, because I am not able to audition everything I would like to hear before buying. It's frustrating. I am looking for a preamp and it's a jungle. I think McCormack and Bryston are quality amps and either would not be a mistake. Pick one and be happy.
my b&k is rated at 350 watts into 4 ohms.i think the bryston and mccormack are at 400 watts.even at the same wattages,i've been told the current delivered could be very different.just wondering if anyone had heard the mccormack with the maggies.i'm sure either the bryston's or mccormack's would be an improvement over my b&k's.by the way ,have a pv10a preamp on the front end.thanks bobh.
The 4B-SST is rated 2x500w into 4 ohm. I’m not familiar with the McCormack, but the 4B-SST is a very nice amp. Very clean sounding and dynamic. I actually like it better then far more expensive amps from makers such as Krell.
Again, speaking from ignorance, I believe the McCormack and Bryston will be similar if not identical current output. Current and wattage are linearly related in similar designs. If the b&k delivered less than twice the wattage at 4 ohms than 8 ohms then you will certainly hear a difference with either the McC or Bry vs. the b&k. (current should double in a good design) But they may sound different in subtle ways.There seems to me to be audible design differences between different "levels" of equipment but not within a level. Maybe in preamps there is more difference because the ciruit design is so much more susceptible to layout and materials. I am an expert in microelectronics so I can imagine the effects of trace dimensions and layout vs. material constants. But good power amps are good power amps. McCormack and Bryston have always made good, solid designs.
Of course you can read opinions on the internet that A "blows away" B and vice versa. Should my opinion be any better?
thanks everybody.i guess short of listening to both,i'll probably go with the bryston,you just can't beat that 20 yr. warranty.
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