Description: Solid-state stereo power amplifier with one pair of line-level, RCA inputs and four multiway binding posts. Continuous power: 225Wpc into 8 ohms (23.5dBW), 400Wpc into 4 ohms (23dBW), both channels driven, 20Hz-20kHz, 1% THD. Input sensitivity: 1.25V. Input impedance: 100k ohms. Harmonic distortion: 0.5% (1kHz, 8 ohms). Frequency response: 0.5Hz-200kHz, -3dB. S/N Ratio: 100dB. Voltage gain: 30dB. Signal polarity: noninverting. Power requirements: 1.1A/130W at idle, 5A/600W at clipping (8 ohms).
Dimensions: 19" W by 6 7/16" H by 16" D. Shipping…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Meridian 508-24 CD player, Meridian 800 DVD/CD transport, Mark Levinson No.360 D/A converter.
Preamplifier: Sonic Frontiers Line 3.
Power amplifiers: McCormack DNA-1 and DNA-1 Rev.A+, Sonic Frontiers Power 3.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio, OLS Kharma Ceramique 2.0.
Cables: S/PDIF digital: Apogee Wyde-Eye, Illuminations D-60. Interconnects: Cardas Golden Cross, Straight Wire Maestro II (DAC-preamp); Cardas Cross, JPS Balanced Super-Conductor 2 (preamp-power amp). Speaker: AudioQuest Granite, Straight Wire Maestro II.—Kalman…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
After a one-hour preconditioning period at one-third power, which maximally works an amplifier with a class-B output stage, the McCormack's heatsinks were too hot to keep my hand on. After another 30 minutes of continuous high-power testing, the DNA-225's thermal trip circuit turned off the power until the amplifier had cooled down.
The DNA-225's input impedance was high at 91k ohms, dropping slightly to 73k ohms at 20kHz. The voltage gain into 8 ohms was higher than usual, at 30.5dB. Both of these factors will make the McCormack a good choice for use with…
The big McCormack more than meets its specification under continuous drive conditions with both channels driven (fig.7). Defining clipping as 1% THD+N, the maximum power raised was 262W into 8 ohms (24.2dBW), 430W into 4 ohms (23.3dBW), and 795W into 2 ohms (23dBW, only one channel driven). The shape of the traces in this graph reveals that noise dominates the measured figure until quite high levels.
Fig.7 McCormack DNA-225, distortion (%) vs continuous output power into (from bottom to top at 2kHz): 8 ohms, 4 ohms, and 2 ohms (both channels driven).
With a low-duty-…
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