Mccormack DNA125 or Belles 150A Hot Rod

Well Steve I'm glad you shared that comment one more time because it is the first time I saw it.Thanks for asking Mfb33. Steve if you happen to get on this thread again, any idea when the line stage will be in production?

Thanks everyone for your responses. I guess either amp in it's price range is a good deal.

I have stock DNA-125 which I enjoy very much. I really appreciate Zaikesman's assessment which I too feel is right on. For those of us who don't need excessive power and don't have a mega ton audio budget (and we are legion) but do want an amp that can deliver punch, dynamics and music; I think the 125 is a fine amp. There may be a few sins of ommission but few of commission. I feel no need to rush out and buy anything different. Like much in audio it takes a lot of bucks to get another 2 to 3% of the music. I can live happily with where I am (at least until I save up enough for Steve's upgrades, LOL).

Hoopster, you should hear what the DNA-125 Silver with Plitron transformer sounds like. It's a totally different amp, even after just the Silver SMc revision. I think it is more than 3% improvement over the stock amp, which is an achievement all by itself.

Agree with Audphile1 about the 'percentage improvement' judgement, subjective as that assessment may be. A/B-ing the DNA-125 directly against the DNA-500 (both stock) makes the 125 sound quite a bit less accomplished for the comparison than it actually seems just listening to music long-term. The 500 is about 4X more expensive, and by 'audiophile math' reckoning the degree of improvement does sound comensurate.