[Baumli]

There is exciting news in the pantheon of great phono preamps. I am referring to the new SMc Audio Ultra Micro Phono Drive. You take an original McCormack Micro Phono Drive, send it to the factory at SMc Audio, and for a cost of about $4000 (counting the cost of the original McCormack unit) you get back a phono unit that bests all the competition I have heard. In the tube realm this includes Audio Research and Herron, BAT and Shindo. In solid-state it includes Basis and Avid, Graham Slee and Sutherland. The SMc Audio Ultra Micro Phono Drive does more than best those other brands, it entirely eclipses them. For a complete review of this unparalleled phono preamp, go to http://www.viaticumpressinternational.com/baumli/music.

[saygrr]

I have a pair of DNA-1s that are mono blocked to the Platinum+ level. Last October got a TLC modded to the Signature level which brings it very close to the VRE-1 Steve tells me. The TLC Signature really surprised me. Did not expect that kind of improvement. I currently have an Audio Research PH-3SE with Steve Huntly's Reference Mod. I like it a lot. Steve Huntly improved a lot. But I'm considering having SMC do a phono stage for me. I appreciate this thread and sharing your SMC experiences.  SMC is for the most part in a league of there own when it comes to amps, line stages, and from what I'm hearing phono stages also.

[Baumli]

Dear Saygrr,

It sounds to me as if you are contemplating the right move. Frankly, I don't know the Huntley mod for the ARC unit you have. It's a good unit to start with, although judging by what they went to with later models it certainly could use a lot of improvement. I'm glad you got that.

Since you had such good luck with your TLC, I certainly would recommend their phono unit for you. I presume you've read the review I wrote. I assure you that nothing is exaggerated therein. I've had the unit for many months now, and still, when I sit down to listen, I actually feel astounded at its sound. After many months and you haven't gotten accustomed to how good it is? That's hard to beat.

And what is amazing is that for the price, you get something vastly better than the so-called best "out there" which can sell for a huge amount more. Not that dropping four-grand is a drop in the bucket, but think what you would pay for a BAT or a Shindo!

Good luck with your decisions. I'll continue upgrading my other McCormack units to the SMc Audio "Ultra" level. You are right. They are in a league of their own. I heard an all FM Acoustics system a couple of years ago, mated with Vandersteen speakers, all Nordost "Valhalla" wire, and a TNT turntable, and that system made my jaw drop in disbelief. Disbelief at how bad it sounded. I could tell they were wonderful speakers, but the rest? It was laughable. And the fellow who owned it all kept looking at me and saying, "What do you think? There's a third of a million dollars worth of components on that rack." (His rack had cost him forty grand!)

I was ever so polite.

All the best,

Francis Baumli

[saygrr]

Thanks for your reply. I have had the same expeirence as you having heard systems aproaching 7 figures that had a sound similar to a PA system. I have about 45,000 in mine but am very happy with the results but has taken 33 years to get there. The table a Lenco with Artisan FidelityAchates mod Arm is Origin Live Encounter MK 3 C  cartridge Clear Audio Maestro V 2 cables Intuitive Design and Stealth speakers Essence 10As updated to the reference + level the only pair that Dale Pitcher has updated to that extreme. A dedicated room and breaker box.

I live in Wisconsin if your in the states would like to talk with you. 262-886-9513 best time to call me is after 8 pm central time before 10 pm. Steve and Kris are really great guys to work. They put a great effort into the customers goals.

Thanks Francis and yes I did read your review. It was fun to read.

Enjoy the music
Jeff Saeger

[saygrr]

I should have noted in my reply that there is very little to read about SMC on the forums or reviews even though they are one of the finest out there. So Francis your review is refreshing, especially considering it was about there Ultra Micro phono stage which up until now there was nothing out there.

Regarding the TLC Signature. All these years I have not been happy with the pre amps or line stages I have owned until I got the Micro Line Drive Platinum +. Before that I had a ARC LS-25 with Steve Huntly's Reference mod. I gave it plenty of time but just did not like it. Poor dynamics and noisy. Before that ARC LS-12. So I went nuts and got the TLC Signature after plenty of discussion with Kris Jeter. It is very quite great dynamics and kick drum sounds like part of the percusion set. It actually sounds like a kick drum.

Jeff

[Baumli]

Dear Jeff,

I'm not surprised that you found the ARC noisy. They may start out quite, but soon they become noisy, and it often isn't just the tubes. I've even known of several that were noisy because of the transformer, but the factory would not do anything about it because they declared that the transformer was in spec. ("In spec." How many of us have been dismayed by that news?)

The TLC doesn't work well for me because I bi-amp and have two external subwoofers. So there is too much cable run for passive. I need at least 1 dB of gain. The Micro Line Drive, upgraded, is perfect.

Thank you for your invitation to call, and I will take you up on it. But please give me a couple of weeks. I've got to be out of town (again) and when I get back there is the big McGurk's event which I have to help with. Then we'll talk audio gear!

All the best,

Francis Baumli

[saygrr]

I will look forward to your call in a couple of weeks. Your upgraded MLD is a wonderful line stage. After Kris worked on mine on was shocked. How could such a small unit out perform every previous unit I owned by a long shot. To this day it amazes me.

Take care. We have some talking to do.

Jeff Saeger

[Nick B]

As Francis knows, I have a gold level McCormack DNA 1.0 and the sound is absolutely wonderful. Jeff, can you elaborate on your modded MLD? I presume you have the power supply in a separate chassis. Info and pictures would be appreciated. Also, Francis, pictures re your MPD would be nice. Kris Jeter told me they now offer more choices on custom chassis.
Nick   

[saygrr]

Hi Nick

Sorry I do not have pictures. I had the MLD for about 2 years. Yes it has a separate power supply and a very high quality step attenuater.The power supply was about 4 wide 6 deep and 2 high. I was using a Stealth cord from the power supply to the MLD and Intuitive Design cord from ps to the wall. All parts very high quality. I spent more on the ARC LS=25 but it was not as quite or musical. Strong female vocals are much easier to listen to on the MLD Platinum + than any previous line stage I have owned.  As good as the MLD was the TLC Signature is even more musical and the only reason I moved into the TLC is because I wanted more room in between rca inputs. Nick I have mono blocked DNA-s. I'm confident you will be pleased with a high level MLD. I traded my MLD in Kris might still have it if your interested. Yes they do offer more choices on custom chassis. I hope this helps.

[C17FXR]

Francis and Jeff
May I join the SMc Audio modification zealot club. I too have several pieces of gear modified by Steve and Kris. 
Francis, very nice review of the MPD and very nice writing as well, it made for a very enjoyable Sunday morning read. I to have been enjoying the virtues of the MPD Ultra although mine is an earlier venture when the Ultra versions first came out back in 2009. I had my TLC and MPD upgraded just as soon as they announced they were doing them. I really enjoy its capabilities immensely. Funny thing is after I got them back from being modded, Kris told me about the DAC-1 mod, I was rather reluctant as I hadn't been having much success with digital at the time, the best I could do was a Denon blu-ray player playing blu-ray music. Kris recommended your review and it persuaded me to give the DAC Ultra a try, it's now my reference for redbook playback that is almost the equal to hi-res. Anyway the point of my story, had I not already had a MPD Ultra I would be getting one. Here's the good news I have a MPD's at SMc getting the Signature modification already. I was looking at rebuilding or upgrading my VPI HW-19Mk IV when it occurred to me about the MPD. So I asked Steve around this time last year if the power supply that is used with VRE could be used with the MPD, I figured if it did such an outstanding job with the TLC Signature could it work its magic on an MPD. I will be finding out very shortly as it should be done soon. As a matter of fact I need to contact them on tomorrow.
By the way the rest of my SMc gear consists of a pair of 0.5 Ultra monoblocks, TLC-1 Signature, DAC-1 Ultra, and a MPD Ultra.
I also use a MLD Gold along with a Micro Integrated Drive (MID) Ultra and rare upgraded Micro Power Drive in my office system. Once the MPD Signature comes back the MPD Ultra will be going in the office system. Did I mention the word zealot any where! 
We should see if we could talk Steve into starting an SMC Audio Circle, I'm sure we'd get quite a few inputs and discussions.
Anyway thanks for letting join in your discussion.
Robert

[saygrr]

Thanks for joining in Robert. It's great to hear from another SMC owner. Kris and I have talked about doing a phono stage. The power supply for the TLC Signature would be shared with the phono stage. There are so few owners of the SMC Ultra and Platinum mods, it is great to see posts from you,Nick and Francis. Your office system is better than what most people have in there homes. What Kris did with my amps and line stage gave me the bug to let Kris do a phono stage also probably a year from now. The TLC Signature is very impressive. If the phono stage is that good man that would be some mighty good music. The phono stage is soooo important.

Your idea of an SMC Audio Circle is a great idea. I'm serious I support that and will also make my voice heard with Steve and Kris.I enjoy reading Odyssey, and Dukes co. Audio Kinesis threads. How ever Steve and Kris would not have time to be involved with answering questions so would be entirely up to members to keep it going. To see this thread started from Francis was great.

Will you guys be at Axpona? My wife and I and about 4 friends will be their April 26. RMAF is a great time also. Only been to it once but did enjoy it.

Jeff

[saygrr]

I'm embarrassed, I spelled  quiet  wrong in previous post.

Hi Din. We talked about 3 or 4 years ago about the MLD. I bought one, Kris converted to a Platinum + and I was amazed. Just recently got a TLC Signature. I plan on having Kris do a phono stage for me. What can you tell us about yours? What have you had before the MPD Ultra?
What are you using for a cartridge?

Thanks
Jeff Saeger

[C17FXR]

Jeff
Sorry to take so long to rely but it has been one extremely busy week.
Let me clarify, my office system is just the Micro Line stuff, MLD (Gold), MID (Ultra) and a Micro Power Drive upgraded by Steve several years ago and soon to be MPD (Ultra) for my turntable.
Here a few of the spec for the Power Drive:
Select passive components upgraded in the input circuitry.
High Speed Soft Recovery Diodes in the power supply.
Larger caps in the power supply.
19,800µF of output capacitance per channel instead of the stock 13,200µF.
High performance bypass caps on outputs
Hand selected custom toroidal transformer
Matched output devices.
Upgraded internal wiring
Cardas GRFA SRCA input jacks.
Cardas CCGR-S Binding Posts.
TRT Musicoat on select components.
Custom PCBs
HiFi-Tuning main AC fuse.
Special McCormack Badge on the faceplate. .
I always felt the Micro series were under appreciated, especially the versatility of the MLD.

As for the other equipment I had listed that's my main rig above the garage.
I wasn't aware that the power supply for the TLC could power the MPD, I will need to ask about this.
Its great that there are others around that appreciate all the work Steve and Kris have done.
Done think we'll be able to get an SMc Circle though, there was a thread started on this a couple years ago that never went anywhere.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=104074.msg1203318#msg1203318

Robert

[bside123]

Dear McCormack Fans,

Perhaps it's appropriate for me to chime in at this point. Yes, I share your love for McCormack Gear, Steve McCormack and Kris Jeter... a fine bunch of gear and a fine pair of gentlemen with equally fine work.

I bought my first McCormack amps in early 1996. Since then I've remained loyal, even while using other gear. I certainly understand the OP's enthusiasm for his upgraded McCormack components. Perhaps with less words and certainly less eloquently, I once waxed so poetically and with such zeal about my Ultra Platinum Upgraded MLD that one might have accused me of "being high on drugs." Really, the upgraded unit was that good and had me feeling ecstatic about the music. Since then, I have continued to follow the path with Steve and Kris and have upgraded several of my McCormack components, all delivering wonderful satisfaction.

I would be happy to participate in a SMc McCormack Circle should one arise. My particular SMc McCormack gear inventory includes:

Two Custom Built DNA 0.5 Monoblocks - previously Steve's own reference gear
One DNA 0.5 - Custom Platinum +
One DNA 0.5 - Gold +
One Micro Line Drive (MLD) Preamp - Ultra Platinum
One Micro Phono Drive (MPD) Preamp - Ultra Platinum

Thusly, I am happily invested in SMc Audio musically, emotionally as well as financially. For my taste, Steve's designs and Kris' work sound right and deliver such fantastic performance for their price points. This is added to by their sterling customer service and personal care. I hope that this contribution adds value to our discussion. Feel free to adjure me to refrain if it doesn't!

Din Dayemi

[Baumli]

Gentlemen,

I'm sorry, but I overlooked requests for a picture of the EPS for my SMc Audio MPD. With poor eyesight, I can't use a digital camera, but basically it looks almost exactly like the EPS for the McCormack ALD-1 pre-amps (the "Deluxe" ones that used an EPS).

All these upgraded units sound so good because Steve McCormack doesn't just do design, he listens with his ears. He'll go back and forth for hours testing one capacitor against another, or one type of wire against another. His nerves and ears hold steady. I can only do that sort of thing for a little while and then my brain starts getting addled.

I'm glad to witness so much interest in the upgraded McCormack gear--which becomes SMc Audio gear. There isn't much equipment I can feel satisfied with, and this line always satisfies.

Very best,

Francis Baumli