[denjo]

Hi
Just wondering if anyone who attended RMAF 2007 had the chance to listen to Steve McCOrmack's latest VRE-1 preamp? He is marketing it under his new company SMC Audio. I've been a big fan of his equipment and mods!

www.smcaudio.com

Best Regards
Dennis

[ted_b]

I'm a big Steve McCormack fan too.  I own his DNA-500, DNA-1 Deluxe (center) and soon his modded DNA-225 (rears).  I met the man in person at RMAF and listened briefly to the system that included his new pre.  There is no way on earth to separate what I heard to focus on the pre, though.  The system (Audience/SMc) sounded nice but no idea  what sonic aspects were related to what piece.  Visually the VRE-1 is a beautiful preamp with nice lines and a very compact and well-built feel. 

BTW, at Steve's recommendation I replaced the stock DNA-500 main external AC fuse with HiFi Tuning one and the sound has become more open and ever so slightly warmer (good, in my case) after an initial break in where it sounded a bit more analytical at first.  I plan on taking the next step and replacing the 12 internal fuses (yes, 12) sometime soon.

[lonewolfny42]

ted...

BTW, at Steve's recommendation I replaced the stock DNA-500 main external AC fuse with HiFi Tuning one and the sound has become more open and ever so slightly warmer (good, in my case) after an initial break in where it sounded a bit more analytical at first.

These ???

[ted_b]

Yep.  A US distributor is The Cable Company (UltraSystems), and since I had a decent sized credit with them (from the cable loan library program) I decided to try Steve's recommendation.  Nice.

[denjo]

ted_b

Thanks for your feedback. I agree with you that visually its a stunner. Seems Steve took some time to develop the prototype and it now looks like the VRE-1 will soon be shipping! I still have his ALD-1 (Rev A Gold) preamp which I occasionally use when I want a bit more body!

Thanks also for sharing the fuse tip. I might want to try these one day, just two for my amplifier external AC fuses.

Best regards
Dennis

[JoshK]

Geez...the prices some of these guys charge is obscene. Looks like a nice design though.  You could DIY something like this pretty easily for much less than a grand. 

[BobM]

One fairly inexpensive tweak for fuses is to apply Silclear, or a similar silver grease, to the ends. I was surprised that I heard a difference after doing this, but I did.

Of course, you can then use the Silclear on other RCA and speaker connections to good effect also.

Enjoy,
Bob