Recommendation for Improvement over McCormack DNA-225

I had the DNA-225 for many years and thought they were very good.  I moved to the Pass Labs XA60.5, XA100.5 and then XA100.8.  They are markedly better than the DNA-225, specially in imagining and purity of mid range.  With that said, if you have power hungry speakers, I wouldn't recommend the XA series unless you are willing to buy one of the big boys.  Even the XA100s with power hungry magnepans can be pressed.  They don't leave class A but don't produce high level SPLs.

I agree with hifiman5, give Steve a call and at least explore the upgrade path. I have several upgraded components from SMC and Steve and Pat are fantastic to work with.   I just got my .5 monoblock signatures and am loving them.  

dwolek:

I have PS Audio Premier outlets and I do think they are well made but can also sound bright compared to the Oyaide R1 and The Synergistic Research Black outlet. The Black outlet in my system has better sound   versus the Oyaide or PS Audio Outlet. I experienced the same effect installing the SR Black fuse- improved detail, soundstage with a more relaxed feel to the music. 

I have a strong feeling that combining these upgrades and Steve McCormack's upgrades to the amp will give you a very satisfying system.

David Pritchard

I do agree that a fuse and a new outlet can make a difference, but to send someone down this road which in net expense between an amp mod, new outlets and fuses vs getting a clearly better amp like the Coda or Pass makes no sense to me. You should be able to sell the DNA225 for $1200 to $1300

Dwolek;

Your fighting the same thing I've been working on; Harshness in highs

I've done a bunch that helped: incrementally
Here is some of my travails!

A couple questions:
1) what sources are you listening to?
     Cd's? Or Ripped ones?
     I've found a lot of CD' s just plain nasty
     Try Tidal and compare?    Big difference in quality of recordings; especially 80-90's stuff
   (really eye opening).
2) cables DO make a good difference in the highs/hash.  ( I always though it was Hooey) Higher level ones were really noticeable
3) just converted from class d amp to pass labs xa series;  big change but crappy source still comes thru, but lots, lots better
4) if you have a parametric eq Like amarra
     Knock down 3-5?db at the cross over frequency with a high q filter and it keeps the tone right but helps with the digital brightness

you have a tough problem to track down, if your hearing is showing you brightness on raal drivers


good luck, you'll need it

Frozen.