Scrumptious! I really love it. I will still try to audition the Halos here, if possible, but I know I have a solution at hand now. It is a nice feeling to know I can get that kind of performance and gain that much in the system for the going price of DNA-500. I also learned that SMcAudio is performing mods to the amp should I feel the urge later. To be honest I didn't feel the need to change anything during the week i have been playing it.
I typed in a long review only to have the keyboard "back" button on my new laptop eat it. So i will try to regurgitate the same thing again with skinnier fingers this time.
I was most concerned about the high freqeuencies, because I had never heard a SS amp in this price range that got them right. This one has no distortion in the highs, they sound tonally natural. They do have the extra zip of SS transient power and snappines, which is not entirely natural because sound is attenuated moving through the air, and recording mics are placed closer than ears at a live concert. I think most engineers don't have ears for natural high frequency texture, or they have lost so much hearing by the time they are experienced enough to produce or master a recording that too many unnatural sounding high freq records get through. But the DNA doesn't make it any worse, it just gives it up as is, holding nothing back the way an output transformer would. No high freq distortion, 500W and $3.5k! That was a very happy moment for me. Salvation at hand!
Midrange is very natural, transparent, uncolored. Swapping in different sources and preamps and even wires during the week really showed what a chameleon the amp is. It is nearly perfectly transparent to whetever precedes it. That explains why previous auditions at trade shows sucked. It was not the amp. I always seem to want to blame the amp. I must have something against amps. From the tube mindframe they have huge effect on the sound and are so sensitive to matching, I have become conditioned to blame everything on the amp. It will be a relief to loose that suspicion. The DNA is blameless.
Bass is huge, detailed, thick and penetrating, wonderful overall. I can hear the acoustic reverb around the bass intro on Miles' So What as well as any tube amp. Only the Spectron gave more bass detail, which is exquisite, but also same detail at higher frequencies which is unsuitable for my speakers. The DNA detail is never distracting, but I can listen in as deeply as I desire, there is always more in there if I want it. Less if I don't want it. Just like a tube amp. So natural. Back to the bass, the really nice thing about the DNA is the physical presence of bass in the room. The bass is very thick and solid, while staying detailed. The Spectron was so detailed, but did not penetrate and thump you on rock or dance music. This physicality is imprtant for getting the feeling of satisfaction and PRaT, and the most out of speakers. You need pretty honkin tube amps to drive bass like this. The thickness is probably warmth distortion above that of the extreme precision of the Spectron, but I like it.
String chamber music is the teller for me. Close miked modern hires recordings of the best groups playing dissonant modern compositions like Shostakovich, Bartok, Schnitter will tell a lot about a system. It was dynamic, open and spacious. Rich body and impact from violent bowing and cello accents. The amp really brings the music to life better than any amp I've tried. All the ugly metallic bow sounds are intact, which any violin nut will require. But not any uglier than reality. With a tubular preamp stage in front to guard against bad dithering, or wrong mic choices on a few recordings, it will be a perfect amp for chamber music, symphonies and Madonna as well. I have a disc that I read about in stereophile, European DJ Trentmoller. It's all MIDI synth music, but creative and entertaining. It really pushes the system to the extremes too. It has Stupid tweeter tricks, with synthesized 15kHz and higher pops and snaps as musical elements in the song, along with synth bass and drum beats that are perfectly undistorted and merciless in shaking the house. The DNA really came alive playing that. No strain, no stress, just "here it is. What's next?" Sympony music, piece of cake. The massed strings will benefit from a good tube preamp, but the thickness of the bass and tympanies was really awesome and satisfying. Brass sound good too.
It runs a little warm, to be expected with goodly dose of class A bias. But not so hot that I could not hold my hand on the heatsink. The heatsinks are very large, so they dissipate a lot of heat. Probably 300W if i had to guess. And it sounds like it. It only weighs 75 pounds, which is a lot by some standards, but the MAC is 110, and even tube RM9 is 60. It was dead silent. A slihgt hiss is audible from tweeter only within 1 inch. More than that and there is nothing. I did get some hum later in theweek, but I had a nest of cables and various equipment of questionable pedigree plugged in.
Mike also loaned me the Running Springs Jaco conditioner. Like him, I preferred to use it with low current devices like sources. I did not like it with the amp, which matches my previous experience with Haley. I do like Equitech and would love to try that with this amp. Getting there, one piece at a time.
Many thanks to Mike for the loan. I can't imagie what a sacrifice it is let someone drive away with your crack pipe like that, for so long. At least you had vacation time at the Lake to hold you over.
Thanks to Chris for encouraging me to check it out again.
Now I just have to find a sample to call my own, and a financing plan. I will also try to hear the Halo, if possible.
Rich
