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Old 03-13-2018, 12:04 AM
gadawg gadawg is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Prosper TX
Posts: 847
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So I got to audition the 526 and the 536s in house with my Wilson Sasha 2s and EMM Labs DA2 fed from my Aurender N100H. Also have a pair of Martin Logan BF212s. Analog was via VPI Prime and w. Soundsmith Zephyr cartridge and ARC PH8 phono preamp. All ICs are Shunyata Anaconda with Shunyata Sigma SC. I still run fairly low end AQ power cords but did try a few different ones that night including the Kimber PK10 and previous gen Shunyata Alpha. It became apparent that cable synergy is very important as when we had the Kimber PC in place I liked the Kimber USB but with either the Shunyata or AQ PC I liked the AQ diamond usb better. Also demo’d the Kimber 3038 SC and it sounded really good also, maybe a better match with this setup than the Sigma ... obviously now that I’ve committed to electronics for a while I’m going to demo cables in more depth later this year.

Compared to my MC601s the Levinson amps had better detail, soundstage size and presence. The Big Macs had a warmer sound but not the same level clarity and resolution. Both amps are dead quiet. I could see someone liking either amp though based on speakers and listening preferences. For me, the 536s sounded more like my favorite amps ever the Pass XS300s than do the 601s which if I won the lottery would displace these Levinsons. That said, for the money these are really really good and worthy of an audition for anyone looking for a serious amp.

The 526 preamp is really good also. That displaced my older 326s and was better in every way. That said, compared to my EMM Labs Dac the 526s Dac really couldn’t compete. It wasn’t bad by any means and did have better bass than the DA2 but the sense of space and air with the DA2 vanished completely with the 526s built in Dac. Similar experience with the ARC PH8 compared to the internal phono stage although here the built in wasn’t quite so far behind.

Now that my 523 has come in I’ve noticed something odd ... it seems to be a bit smoother than the 526 and I can’t help but wonder if somehow the built in Dac in the 526 is somehow affecting the performance of the pre as a whole. Don’t know but very happy with the choice to stay with the 523.

I had hoped to compare the 52 Ref as well but that one wasn’t around. I had previously heard the 52 and 53 combo and remember not really liking it but I’m guessing that had more to do with the class D 53 than the 52 but I’ve not been able to audition the 52 against the 523. A factory rep told me though given the same price he would close the 523 while a coworker still feels the 52 is still king. Probably voiced a bit different so will come down to personal preference.

The 536 and 523 combo is really as engaging to me as just about any other combo I’ve heard. I liked it better than some far costlier combos but clearly not as much as the Pass xs300 and XS Pre. Maybe next time!

I do want to say though that this new Levinson stack sounds very different than the older stuff so if you loved the house sound of say the older 380 pre and 33s this is a very different cup of tea. Some like me will like the change ... others will not so it’s critical to audition and make sure you like the flavor.

I will be upgrading the analog rig next year along with a complete HRS rack. Then...comes the Alexx in 2020. I have no doubt these amps can drive the Alexx or any other speaker connected to them.
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