[gadawg]

Ok ... I've managed to get over 200 hours on my new ML No52 Reference and it seems to have stabilized at around 100 hours so I feel comfortable sharing my impressions at this point. First, right out of the box I'll say that I knew this was a special preamp. It was a lot of fun to listen to immediately and was much more detailed than my No326s right away. I also noticed better bass extension and detail, and a much bigger sound stage. Fresh out of the box it was a little eager on the top end but not so much I didn't already really like it. Over the next 100 hours the top end became much more natural sounding without losing any of the amazing detail I had been hearing. I also had a No523 on hand and while it is an amazing product and I feel deserving of the reviews its getting, in my system it really couldn't open up the music like the 52 did nor did it have the incredible tonal saturation and density of the 52. The 523 had great detail, bottom end and potentially a slightly bigger sound stage ... really kind of reminded my of the ARC Ref6 sound stage size. Where the 52 really shines is in the timbre and harmonic structure of the music ... horns seems more brassy, drums were more taught, guitars more beautiful sounding, voices more liquid.

The 52 has the ability to present as many different layers as the recording can offer and at times I found myself thinking that I had just heard something further back or in between other instruments where with the 523 or 326 the sounds didn't separate themselves as easily. That said, there is no doubt that the 523 is much better than the 326s its just that the 52 was in a different league. It was one of those times where when you first turn it on its immediately apparent things just got a lot more intense.

One more quality the 52 has in droves is how quiet it is ... it is deadly quiet. At times music just jumps out of nothingness to a degree that its almost a little startling. In this regard it reminds me a little of the Boulder 2110 which is the only other product I've heard that sound emerges from absolute blackness. That said that would be where the similarities between the 52 and 2110 end and which you prefer would largely be a matter of taste. While I'm discussing the quiet nature of the 52 this would be the perfect time to discuss the phono section that is built in. It is one of the quietest I've ever heard. To me it sounds very much like what I'm hearing in the line stage. With the 523 I still preferred my ARC PH-8 which is an excellent phono pre. With the 52 I had a slight preference for the built in phono section which to me is amazing as the PH-8 is no slouch for sure! The only downside of the phono section is that is has a strange selection of loads to load your MC cartridge with. For me it worked out ok because I have a Transfiguration Proteus with an impedance of 1 ohm so I have settled at a 77 ohm load on the Pre. It only goes to 330 ohms though before jumping all the way to 47k. It does have one "custom" slot that a dealer than supposedly configure for any custom impedance but I thought it strange there was no 500-1000 ohm settings. Again, not an issue for me and if I need to change it I can so not a big deal for me.

The preamp operates in pure Class A mode and it has two main outputs that are driven by their own output buffer so what you connect to one doesn't impact the other. Each balanced output has an impedance of just 25 ohms so it should have no issue driving any amp or length of cable out there. There is an Aux output which can be configured as fixed or variable so you can effectively tri-amp if you wanted to! I have mine connected to a pair of the new 536s which are just fine for me! The remote is also one of the best hand held remotes I've used and while the form factor is identical for the remote between all three units the volume control on the 52 and 326s function the exact same way. The 523 will tend to get going a little too fast if you hold down the button and I found myself having to back off the volume just a bit often.

So ... I think I have found the pre that I will live with for quite a long while. The amps aren't going anywhere either for that matter. The only difficult question is if the 52 is worth double the price of the 523? Well, to me it was because I bought it. To others, depending on the rest of the system you may prefer one or the other. To be clear they are both great preamps but if you're asking ... the Mark Levinson No52 Reference pre can hold its own with any preamp out there. There's only a handful I could say that about and its definitely in the group! Gets my highest recommendation!

George