Larry visited recently with a McCormack DNA-125 power amp in tow. He wanted to hear it vs a new Hegel integrated amp, to see if the investment would be worth upgrading to.
Let me start by saying, I think very highly of McCormack amps. They were built in the 1990s up to about 2000. DNA-125 sold for $1995 and had 125 w/ch. McCormack amps were competitive with Threshold, Levinson & Krell back in the day. They were known for having smoother sound than your average bear- like Hafler, Parasound, Cambridge, etc.
How would the old boy fair vs a modern design by Hegel?
The Hegel H190 is a fabulous integrated amp. It has 150×2 of horse power. Hegel employs its patented Sound Engine 2 circuitry to control output transistor behavior. Hegel has a discrete preamp on board with J Fet transistors, hand matched in Norway. It also has Hegel’s edge of the art DAC built in. At $4350 the H190 is a very high performing, top notch value. You get a wonderful DAC, preamp and power amp, all in one box.
Larry wanted to compare the H190 as a full bore integrated- vs using his McCormack as a power amp tied to the preamp and DAC of H190. This kind of comparison is RIGHT up my alley!
I’m always bragging that our current gear outperforms vintage gear. Time marches on, ya know. Semi conductors are better every day, and of course older products WEAR. Larry pointed out he had just recapped the McCormack- so this was sure to be an apples to apples comparison. I was as excited to do the comparison as Larry was.
I connected the McCormack to the pre out of the H190 and plugged the speaker wires into it. The switching time between hearing Hegel vs McCormack was about 3 seconds, hence it was virtually an AB comparison. The volume level between the Hegel and McCormack was spot on. We had as FAIR a comparison as you could run.
We threw on a modern recording through the Hegel and Magnepan MG 1.7i speakers. Stand up bass speed and control was tight, yet rich. Vocals popped out of the pans. What a great start.
We then connected the McCormack and it sounded like you threw another layer of grill cloth on the pans. The sheen and innate intimacy that the pans are capable of, were masked. The transients on the stand up bass were duller. Vocals came from a gray, rather than black background. The McCormack was characteristically smooth, yet not as fast, taut or clear as today’s modern Hegel design.
We went back/forth several times to be sure we agreed on what the differences were. The improvement with the Hegel was incontestable. Larry happily bought the Hegel and the old amp will move on to his son.
Hearing the McCormack reminded me that we did indeed have a few smooth solid state sounding power amps back in the 90s- Audire falls into the conversation as well. Sometimes, I think of all the amps of that era as sounding like Hafler, Acoustat and Adcom- with were all strong but grainy to a fault.
There is no doubt that when we compare these 20 plus year old amps to something current, like Hegel (which still ain’t Bryston!) we hear their age.
The old boys just don’t have the alacrity, dynamic contrast or grip that today’s best amps do!