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

Heard them at my dealer thought they sounded excellent.

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!

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...

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

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.

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

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

Went to another location today that had the 526 and a pair of 536 with the 519 connected to Martin Logan Renaissance. I can't begin to describe how ... terrible it sounded. My wife just walked out. It literally sounded like a cheap receiver.

Now the rest of the story ... was in a 8X8 room with very inexpensive interconnects and one of the amps was so hot it would have burnt my hand had I left it there. It was also a different location of the same store I visited with the blown No53. They will soon have a dead 536 I'm afraid.

Harmon can build all the greatest stuff in the world but unless they get some real dealers where we can actually hear this stuff I'm afraid the Levinson line will fade away.

By the way ... there is interest here in the new product as two other customers who had both old Levinson and Pass gear had stopped by to take a listen. We all just looked at each other in disbelief.

Incredible story. 8 x 8 room, uh, what? That's a crazy dealer based upon your descriptions! I agree, without a retail presence in learned, competent dealers, they won't sell a lot of product. But I assure you, the new gear sounds superb. A dealer's setup plays a big role. B&W 800 D2's sound way better in my room than they do at my dealer. My dealer uses McIntosh electronics, including MC601's, and I use Mark Levinson. Room acoustics is the difference IMHO.

523 vs 326s
 

523 vs 326s no contest the 523 blows it out of the water, the 52 vs 523 was real close hard to tell was @ a levinson dealer in new york with no time left to demo

Good to know and figured as much. I'm going to Axpona in the spring so I should be able to hear the new stuff then.

Given the dearth of comments about the new Mark Levinson products in online forums, I’m unable to resist commenting when the topic comes up.

In my home, I listen to the No. 523 and No. 536 multiple times per week. I’ve had B&W 800D2’s and Revel Ultima Salon2’s connected to them. I can’t fathom what more could be desired, they sound superb. Their level of refinement is readily discernible, and music sounds exquisite.

When you bought the new gear ... did you have the change to compare it to D'Agostino, VTL, or Audio Research? Just curious as I have had the chance to listen to those a good bit as of late and wondered what your impressions were having made the choice to go Levinson.

Thanks

George

George,

I have heard D’Agostino with Wilson Audio and B&W at a local dealer, the sound was superb. I believe I mentioned in another thread that I bought my Mark Levinson gear without hearing them first because I was offered no brainer pricing, and a promise to buy them back if I was unhappy (no risk, other than a relatively small fee). So I’ve not done a side-by-side comparison, nor have I heard anything else in my home.

I’m not a case study that exhibits a reasoned, comparative decision process. At least not in a classic sense. I did hear McIntosh, Krell, D’Agostino, and Classe’ extensively prior to purchasing. I’d have been happy to own any of them, but I rarely purchase in the absence of extreme discounting. When I found an opportunity to purchase at uncommon pricing new gear that was engineered by a team with a successful history prior to being hired by Harman, I took a leap of faith. My faith was rewarded!

What I hear is:
- dead quit, black hole level noise floor.
- complete absence of distortion.
- fast, effortless dynamics.
- revealing, textured, full bodied voices, strings, horns. I hear the felt of the kick drum hammer and the air displaced as the hammer travels. Wood resonance of a drum stick striking the rim. Etc. I hear everything captured in the recording.
- bass impact, body, rock solid control of both the 800D2’s and Salon2’s.
- musicality in abundance.

It sounds as good as anything I’ve heard (see previously mentioned brands). :yes:

I agree, for when I purchased my Studio 2's last year it was thru 536's that they were demo'ed , sounded excellent !

Thanks for the info ... Hoping Levinson will have a great setup at Axpona which I'm sure they will. I did notice that Music Direct had their product on the Website for a few days then took it down. Still has it listed as a brand but no products. Weird!

George

I’ll be curious to learn of your impression once you hear it/them.

You’re welcome to visit and listen to mine, but Michigan is not a great place to visit this time of year. Well, unless you like to ice fish or snowmobile!

Snowmobile....did you say Snowmobile ? !! I'll be right over !

What day should I expect you? Make sure you bring your warmest gear, we’re Arctic like this week. Maybe we can catch some fish through the ice while you’re here, nothing beats catching fish while constantly wiping your nose on your sleeves and mittens! And numb toes, they rock! :no:

Thanks for the invite ... might have to wait for warmer weather though as I'm a cold weather WIMP!!! :yikes:

George

I hadn't really looked before, but one reason could be their idle power consumption - 350w each.

Granted, this is because their design goes up to about 6w in pure class A, but still, 700w for the stereo pair is more power draw than a Pass X350.8 and just below that of a pair of X260.8s.

Surprisingly, the heat sinks aren't at all warm, unlike say the Pass amps I listed above.

Bill, I’m having a(nother) slow moment; which amp are you saying draws 350w idle?

Karl,

I believe he’s saying each 536 draws 350W on idle while on. Just looked it up and that is correct. I listen to mine many hours per week and haven’t noticed an increase in my power bill so I’m good! :-)

I have to say these are the best sounding amps I’ve ever owned. Needed 200 hours of run in before I reached that conclusion but once I got there I have been totally amazed every time I listen. Also, I changed mine to Normal mode so most of the amp is energized and ready to go all the time. No real noticeable warm up time at all in the normal mode. In the green mode it takes an hour or so to get the same result.

So ... as a response to my own question so many months ago ... no reason I can fathom that several of these sold while so new. Mine will be here for a long time!

George

I’ve had mine since they were first released over 2 years ago with no electric bill anomalies. I also don’t find them to be warmer than any other amps.

There’s a guy here in Michigan that sells a lot of new Harman kit on US Audiomart. He’s a Harman employee, and his pricing suggests he is buying at dealer prices. What I’m suggesting is that Harman offers products to insiders who are then listing them for a profit. I believe we were seeing some of that at the time you started this thread.

I’m with you: enamored with and delighted by these amps. I’ve not heard anything better.

Unfortunately I’ve heard something that as of yet I’ve heard no equal but won’t be in the budget anytime soon ... the dartZeel monoblocks and their pre but for $200k for the package ... my 536s will be here a long time. :yes:

Dartzeel 458... the ultimate

dartZeel certainly has the reputation of being one of the best. I’ve no doubt there are others that best the No. 536 as well, but like George said, the 536 delivers a lot at its price point. Stretching the budget beyond it is not something I intend to do, partly because it’s so damn pleasing there’s no need to.

https://file.kbb.com/kbb/images/cont...ow-600-001.jpg

Ferrari 458 the Real Ultimate :naughty:

:D

Think I’ll keep dreaming of the DartZeels ... at least that won’t cause my car insurance to explode!:D

I might have some insight as to why so many have been for sale. I’ve been resisting this post waiting the outcome of customer service but here goes ... First preamp had status LED go out day after install. Over a month later the replacement shows up and has a buzz in the right channel out of the box ... first one didn’t. Also now the led on one of the amps has gotten so dim I can no longer see it so it’s basically out too now. I’ve officially asked for a refund since I’ve never received a functioning system. Hopefully that works out as I’m tired of swapping out defective gear. I hate to post this as it did sound freaking amazing. Really too bad.

George

And now no right channel at all. Good night!

Absolutely understand you being pissed, you have a right to be. However, this is the first mention on the internet that I’ve ever seen of quality issues. I’ve never had any issues with mine. How they address your issues will tell us much.

Yup ... not very interested in a 3rd 523 though. Luckily I still have my 326s that has worked like a champ.

George

Heard back from Harman support today and they were diligently trying to gather facts. I answered their questions and they are promising to get back to me quickly as they want to understand how it is that I’ve received the only two 523s to fail since launch. Some people do get struck by lightening twice I guess. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket? Seriously though I do think they really want to understand what is happening but probably going to be at least a week before I have any idea what they are going to do. The 326s is a fine preamp that I have enjoyed for the last 4 years but the 523 is in another league. I’m getting the feeling the dealer nor Harman is going to be willing to issue a refund even though I’ve paid for this 3 months ago and never received a fully working unit yet. I’m trying to be patient but i really have lost confidence in the 523 reliability since both units had issues right out of the box. Sorry for the long sad story ... maybe just venting a little. Thanks for listening!

George

George, I think everyone would be emotional in your circumstance. High end audio gear is selected with heart, and with dreams of audio bliss. Oh, and lots of money is expended. :yes:

I hope you are happy, in the end.

Not sure either but I do know I preferred the Bricasti M28's over the 536 mono's. I was looking to update from the Parasound JC-1's (which by the way are a great amp - will warm your room also!). So auditioned them side by side and the M28's just sounded so much better. Now it maybe a little unfair since at the time I had the Bricasti M1 DAC and for those who know Bricasti combining there DAC's with the M28 are a very very good match. The other thing I wanted is to have a all black unit and not that silver plate but black and they refused to even consider. Bricasti had no issue in suppling.

2 Channel: Bricasti M12 DAC & M28's Mono's Black / Aurender N10 Black / Treatments: RPG BAD ARC panels (F, S, Bass Trap & R walls)
Speakers: Martin Logan CLX ART (Dark Cherry) w/30# weights / 2-ML 212's Subs tuned w/PBK
Grounding: Nordost QKore 6 (2-M28, 1-N10, 1-M12, 1-QB8, 1-Router) / 8' Earth Ground Rod / Bricasti M12 w/Acoustic Revive RGC-24
Nordost: 5-QV2 & QK1, 2-QX4 / 12-TC Kones, 27-Sort Fut & 28-LIft / O2/V2 Pwr / O2: SC, Digital & XLR's / H2 Network / V2 RCA Sub's
Misc: Mini iPad / Furutech GTX-DNCF / LED lighting / Aurender AMM / Lovan Rack / SR Quantum Blue Fuses & Black Box
Media Rm: ML: 13A's, 2-Descent i's, 6-Vanquish, Focus / Parasound: 3-A23 &1-31 / Entreq SM /65" LG 4k OLED / Anthem AVM60/ Nordost Tyr 2

Perfect example of listening to vastly different sound characteristics and selecting the one you prefer. Like you, I like how my “matched” amp/preamp units sound together.