[jdandy]

Jeff.......When the Mark Levinson 326S was new in 2005 it was considered a formidable component. It's performance was compared to the McIntosh C200 among other noteworthy preamplifiers. It originally sold for $10,000. I remember when it was first released because I had just auditioned a Levinson 380S preamp and 380 CD player at Stereotypes in Daytona Beach, Florida. When the 326S replaced the 380S it also jumped the price up about $3500.00. The new Mark Levinson 326S was now being manufacture by Lexicon under a new division Harman International created called Harman Specialty Group. Mandrigal was out of the picture. Between the higher price and the shift of manufacturing from Mandrigal to Lexicon I backed away from considering Levinson gear at the time. I did audition the 326S in direct comparison with the 380S and remember that I thought it a bit more sterile or perhaps I thought the 380S was a bit warmer. Either way, I lost interest in Mark Levinson at that time and never regained it.

Knowing that the Mark Levinson 326S preamplifier is 9 years old, you will want to audition it if you can before letting the cash slip away. Levinson was having some reliability issues with a number of components through the mid 2000's. There were some guys who were modding Levinson gear also, so you want to make sure the 326S you are interested in hasn't been hacked up. And finally, if the 326S is clean, working properly, and sounds good to you, keep in mind it is a nine year old preamp that wasn't their top of the line preamp so negotiate a fair price. There's lots of spin out there about how any Levinson component can trace its lineage back to what Mark Levinson was doing in the late 70's and early 80's at his reputation's peak. Just remember, once Mandrigal, Harman, and Lexicon got hold of the line after Levinson sold out many things changed and some of it wasn't necessarily for the better.