mccormack dna 225 or conrad johnson 2500a (1 Viewer)

[Rich Wenzel]

similar watts, both by CJ owned companies, which would you prefer?

the CJ is a bit more expensive, but ignoring that, which do you think is better?

Rich

 

[MikeTz]

Rich:

I can't speak for the CJ but the McCormack is a fantastic amplifier. I have heard it with several speakers, including B&Ws, and it is extremely musical. The DNA 225 has received many favorable reviews from the trade press (the CJ has too).

Hard to go wrong with either of these amps.

MT

 

[Rich Wenzel]

trying to figure out if the CJ is worth $800 more....

Rich

 

[Lee-M]

The fact that these are produced by the same company is not relevant; the McCormack unit is a different design, formerly owned by the designer's (Steve McCormack) company, but apparantly sold to CJ to help with production costs.

I can't claim to have heard the Conrad Johnson, but I can speak for the McCormack unit, and state that a McCormack amplifier in my own system helped music bring tears to my eyes. I am kicking myself months later for letting go of it to migrate to a 5 channel HT amp...

 

[Rich Wenzel]

while ill agree that although they may not sound anything similar due to the fact that they are owned by the same company, I doubt CJ would price their amp higher than a similarly specd McCormack amp, unless they thought theirs was better...

Though the sound is independent between the two, the pricing is not...

Rich

 

[Scott_N]

I haven't heard the McCormack amp but I did hear the 2500 with a CJ PV-14 and thought it very warm and musical for a SS amp. I thought it had nice bass and sweet almost tubelike midrange but if speed and ultra-detail are what you are looking for it might not be the amp for you.

Good luck in your choice!