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-   -   Mark Levinson No536 - Why so many for sale? (https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=40016)

gadawg 07-23-2017 02:13 AM

Mark Levinson No536 - Why so many for sale?
 
Just wondering as I go through Audiogon why there are so many of the new Mark Levinson No536 Mono amps selling relatively inexpensively? Almost half price! Are they not selling or are they just not very good? Anyone hear them yet?

Thanks

George

tdelahanty 08-06-2017 05:30 PM

Heard them at my dealer thought they sounded excellent.

Karl Maga 08-06-2017 05:56 PM

I own two of them, I was among the first two waves of shipments when they first shipped in December 2015 / January 2016.

I suspect my experience occurred across the USA: I got extreme discounting. Consider that Harmon makes its profit from sales to Automotive corporations. Managing their brand to drive those high margin business to business arrangements necessitates high end brands and new product releases therein.

The opportunity to make a profit by reselling what a dealer sold to a customer at crazy prices is what I assume you are seeing on Audiogon.

As for their sound? Even though I could make some money, mine aren't for sale. I clearly enjoy them a lot!

The dealer where I purchased my B&W's 800's demos the 800 Diamonds with MC 601's and a MC preamp. I bought the Levinson for more than the 601 cost, indicating my preference.

There's nothing wrong with the 536's. In fact, they are a great value at the price seen on Audiogon. They deserve the praise heaped on them by the experienced reviewers Greenhill and Kessler.

I owned the 536 for about 7 months before I added a preamp, the ML No. 523, and they really bloomed with the 523. I'm ecstatic about how they sound! I can't wait to hook the still unboxed Salon2's to them!

gadawg 08-06-2017 09:03 PM

Glad to hear you're enjoying the amps and thanks for the insight. Were you able to compare the 523 to the Reference 52?

rnrmf1971 08-06-2017 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gadawg (Post 860347)
Glad to hear you're enjoying the amps and thanks for the insight. Were you able to compare the 523 to the Reference 52?

The potential answer to that question concerns me, since the 523 is newer...

gadawg 08-06-2017 11:32 PM

I'm sure the 52 is still better! :scratch2:

Karl Maga 08-08-2017 10:25 PM

I have no place to go (that I know of) to experience the 52, so I'm not optimistic that I'll be able to do a comparison.

gadawg 08-09-2017 08:41 AM

I actually found a place here in Dallas that has a 52, a pair of 53's and a pair of JBL K2's. First, it didn't work ... employee said the system got struck by lightening some time ago and has never worked again. Next ... all of that was in a room that was literally maybe 8X8 at best with the chair in the door to the room.Talking about an expensive pair of headphones! They are a JBL Synthesis home theater store(they sell kitchen stuff too and its not BB) that only has this system really as a museum piece and the employees didn't even know what it was other than it was some really expensive stuff that used to sound real good. They freely admitted they've never sold any! No surprise there! I called the other dealer here in town but I'm not hopeful that they will have anything to demo as they don't answer the phone and I'm guessing they do home theater and order other lines on an as needed basis kind of on the side.

That same store did have another location down the road a bit so I went for a ride and they did have a 585 with a pair of Revel's with a Marantz SACD player and it was in a slightly bigger area(not much) and it sounded like it had potential. Room too small and really inexpensive interconnects to say the least so it would have been impossible to make a buying decision based on the sound. They did at least get in touch with the area rep and said they would find out what equipment he had at home and try and arrange a demo at his house with whatever equipment he had on hand. Surprising that a company can afford to demo this kind of equipment without the hope of selling any? Home Theater market must be good here! :D

George

Karl Maga 08-10-2017 07:23 PM

It seems to me, based upon an observation window of only 30 months, that Harmon has not attempted to cultivate a presence on premise at high end audio dealers across the US. They've clearly committed engineering to new product introductions via the Mark Levinson brand, so I can only theorize that retail growth of ML must not be part their strategy.

I'll say this though, this new ML stuff sounds VERY good. I wish more people could readily audition it.

gadawg 08-10-2017 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl Maga (Post 861036)
It seems to me, based upon an observation window of only 30 months, that Harmon has not attempted to cultivate a presence on premise at high end audio dealers across the US. They've clearly committed engineering to new product introductions via the Mark Levinson brand, so I can only theorize that retail growth of ML must not be part their strategy.

I'll say this though, this new ML stuff sounds VERY good. I wish more people could readily audition it.

Your 523 must be REALLY good because when I emailed ML customer support they had no issue letting me know the 523 was substantially better than my 326s. When I asked how much better the 52 is than the 523 they came back with depending on system I would have to audition to decide which one was better! Evidently the 523 could have surpassed the 52. Congrats on a great sounding product. I'll likely be there next year myself.

George


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