Mark Levinson
 

Why is there no Mark Levinson forum in the manufacturer's equipment section? Just curious as I have a total Mark Levinson system. I see they even had a Chinese/Japanese section. Is the brand considered subpar these days? Again just curious......

I had a No37 and 360s combo up until recently. What a great combo! Still have my No326s which compares really well still! I haven't heard any of the new stuff so I can't say although they seem to be getting good reviews! I'm definately up for a Levinson forum! Anyone else?

Speak up now, or forever hold your peace. :)

Mark Levinson
 

I have dissected an ML #333 amp to replace capacitors and was very impressed with its build quality. It also sounded great driving my vintage system.

It is a brand with substance. Somewhat surprised we don't have more owners here.

I have been impressed with the Mark Levinson 585 integrated amplifier since its introduction. A special place for Mark Levinson owners to share would be a good thing.


http://tooloud.co/wp-content/uploads...No.-585-13.jpg

I suppose you could say a Mark Levinson Audio Systems forum is conspicuously missing.

You might as well include Cello in that forum too.

In 1980, an investor acquired control of the company, allegedly without paying Levinson, and allegedly put MLAS through a planned bankruptcy to eliminate Levinson’s 43% interest in the company. Mark Levinson Audio Systems, Ltd. ceased to exist in 1984, with Madrigal Audio Labs acquiring its assets. Madrigal Audio Labs took Levinson to court and asked the United States government to forbid him from working in audio for the rest of his life. In August 1986, Levinson won the case but lost the right to use his given name as a trade name (such as is put on a product). Since 1990, the Mark Levinson brand and trade name have been property of Harman International Industries.

I've been enjoying my Levinson No.52 pre amp for almost a year and a half now, and I'm not considering any pre-amp upgrades for awhile.
I look forward to hearing more of what it seems to do well whenever I get around to upgrading my speakers.
I love not dealing with consideration of tube choice, as I did when I had my McIntosh C500T. I was always unhappy with some aspect of the sound when I had that pre-amp. It wasn't entirely the pre-amp, but it was part of it.

The Levinson 52 also has the majority of the features of my previous Mcintosh pre-amp - lots of inputs, phone stage, home theater bypass, multiple outputs, etc.
The inside of the Levinson looks very clean and well put together. The size of the pre seems to have been dictated by the design and the space needed to house the internal components. There's no empty space.

Levinson makes a big deal that the No.52 regenerates its own power, internally. That said, power cables and power conditioners still have a significant effect on the the pre-amp, to more or less the same extent I'd expect from any component.

I particularly like the newly updated cosmetic design of the recently released integrated amp, pre-amps, and amps - more so than my own No.52.

I will be envious if they release a new flagship pre.....

You know, as with everything else, it's only a matter of time!

I just wish we had a Levinson dealer in Dallas!

I know this guy that runs a cool audio forum that is. :whistle:

Gary - I knew the bits and pieces of the story but I wasn't aware of this part of it. Why in the world did they do that? Just afraid of future competition?

- Buck

Oh wow ... guess I should pay more attention. :D Excellent ... now I know where to go when I get ready!

Thanks

George

Other than a few details, this is about as accurate as I have seen in public.

My vote would be to have a ML forum. ML does to not appear to receive as much love on AA as other brands but maybe some closet ML people will come out. I have a ML amp in my main system. Also find that their amps play real nice with an ARC Pre.

Had the pleasure of hearing their No. 52 pre and as far as solid state goes it was sweet.

ML recent product introductions look very good and sound very nice.

Somewhere along the line I'd love to hear my No.52 with tube amplifiers. I think it might be outrageously musical with the right tube amp.

I'm loving the combo of the 52 with Bricasti amps, at this point, however.

Have you ever compared the No52 to the No326? I'm interested as to how much better the 52 is than the 326. Thinking about upgrading next year....just don't want to upgrade and have them come out with its replacement 30 days later. Hahaha

I have heard both of these in a very similar system but unfortunately with quite some time between. As you know audio memory can be short. Personally I was not totally moved by the No 326. That day I was comparing it to some ARC pre amps. When I heard the No 52, that was the only pre that I listened to that day. The rest of the system was Revel Salon 2's and they were driven by a ML amp.

The No 52 was fairly new and did not have many hours on it but I thought it sounded great. Probably the best SS pre that I have heard.

For the record I am a tube pre kind of guy and have a preference to ARC. At this point in time I do not see a future without ARC as my pre. If I was to go back to SS tomorrow one of the first pre amps I would audition is the No 52.

Based on my recollection I would suggest the No 52 is quite a bit better than the 326, but so is the price.

I've heard only positive feedback on the 326. I've never had the chance to compare. I wasn't aware that the 326 was still a current product. I know it's on the Levinson website but I figured the 523 (526 has an additional DAC) was the replacement.

Wasn't the 523 very favorably reviewed in Stereophile somewhat recently?

If you ever mate your No 52 with a tube amp please post your experience. I personally have never heard a SS pre with a tube amp but do like a tube pre with a SS amp, which is what I currently use and am very happy with.

I added a 585 integrated amp to my system a couple months ago and have been extremely happy with it. The built in DAC is way better than expected, I was initially sold on a more easy to use system for my wife, when in the end I got a huge improvement in sound quality over my old Krell S300i and PS Audio Nuwave DAC combo as well. I consider it to be about as perfect for a simple system as one can get, for a reasonable price.

The only "complaint" I have is for some reason they ML has decided to have their standby lights blink (two seconds on, two seconds off) when in standby mode instead of being constantly on. It doesn't really bother me, but just seems odd....

Mark Levinson, Forum, Done! :)

I'm all in for a Levinson forum, having owned quite a bit of their gear. Ivan would be a great representative for the brand. :yes:

Glad to see a Levinson forum here. Looks like the new Levinson products are back up to a very high standard. I do think they've gone a bit overboard with their pricing though.

Hopefully some more Levinson 52 owners will chime in here. That is a piece I'd really like to have in my system.

I believe Renaissance AV in Dallas is a Levinson dealer.