Mark Levinson Gears

[lakesailor]

I have an amp and pre-amp from the “in between” era of ownership under Madrigal Laboratories. It is great gear….very musical, accurate, great imaging and very quiet delivery. In spite of being a 250 rms/channel amplifier it is dead silent between passages. I just recently brought my first Mac. amplifier into the House so I am now having the fun of comparing the sonic differences between the two, which early indicators suggest is not subtle.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by lakesailor

I have an amp and pre-amp from the “in between” era of ownership under Madrigal Laboratories. It is great gear….very musical, accurate, great imaging and very quiet delivery. In spite of being a 250 rms/channel amplifier it is dead silent between passages. I just recently brought my first Mac. amplifier into the House so I am now having the fun of comparing the sonic differences between the two, which early indicators suggest is not subtle.

lakesailor.......What McIntosh amplifier are you comparing to the Levinson, and what Levinson model are you using?

[megasat16]

Originally Posted by Douglax

Nope it is wonderful! I heard that it had some customer service issues after Mark sold them. A friend that works for a dealer told me that a lot of dealers had problems getting things serviced. Harmon now owns them and is trying to bring back the line.

Before I sold the # 335, one channel sends a constant buzz to the speaker. I called Herman and they replaced the capacitors free of charge even though I wasn't the original owner.

I sold the amp soon after because I got bored with the very polite sounding amp. But I greatly enjoyed the ML Pre and Sources and they are probably up to par with my other reference gears. I think Harmon still makes an excellent ML line up this day.

[AudioNut]

Speaking of Levinson quality, I'm still using a No. 25s phono pre amp and the matching PLS 226 supply that I've been using for over 20 years. They still sound terrific and never a problem in that whole time.

IMHO, these old units still "hold their own" when compared to much more recent equipment and I'm still quite happy with their sonic quality - as well as the build quality.

[djwhog]

Originally Posted by jprice

I owned Levinson gear for about 20 years, with never a service problem, never a glitch, only pure enjoyment!

Levinson stuff (starting with the original equipment built by Mark Levinson himself) has always been overbuilt, built to last, built like a tank and always sounded "good" if not superb or, at least, excellent.

I always said that my Levinson equipment was "good enough", and continued to "trade-up" as new models appeared and remained contented by the sound and quality.

I finally sold my Levinson equipment in 2005 because I decided it was time to try something else. At the time I had a No. 32 preamp and a pair of 33H amps along with a full complement of Levinson digital gear.

I did buy a Spectral preamp and a pair of Spectral amps which were equally well built and, to me, sounded a bit better. Later sold the Spectral mono amps and bought a stereo "250" amp which sounds the same as the mono amps, but got a considerable amount of cash to buy something else.

Still love and respect Levinson gear and would recommend it unquestioningly to anyone looking to assemble an "all black" system. Good Stuff!

Also just to add to this I think John Curl also was a design/builder to back in the day, and stuff was a TANK

I think in recent years not so good, but still good gear.

[tdelahanty]

If I may chime in and add to JP's remarks, I too owned levinson gear and only experienced one problem with a 335 amp. It was fixed and updated free of charge, without question !!! Had a JC1 preamp, it was made like a jewel.

My background is military electronics, I have worked on the most hi-tech gear you can imagine. LEVINSON BUILD QUALITY IS AS CLOSE TO MIL-SPEC AS IT GETS !!!

[lakesailor]

Originally Posted by jdandy

lakesailor.......What McIntosh amplifier are you comparing to the Levinson, and what Levinson model are you using?

The amp is #431 and my new Mc. Is 6900 integrated…granted comparing an integrated to a stand alone is not exactly a legitimate comparison it is still a fun exercise. I am a fan of the distinctive “Levinson” sound and an now experiencing the legendary “Mac” sound…..still very new to the latter with many more listening session to go (and to look forward to !)

[rockitman]

ML is not what they used to be when they were Madrigal Labs. Now that Harmon owns them, I don't even consider them anymore...right or wrong. They (Harmon) won't service Madrigal made products....therefore they are a distant memory for me, although I do have No. 's 380S, 36 and 27.5 mothballed for an eventual second stereo.

[jdandy]

I auditioned the Mark Levinson No. 383 integrated amplifier in 2003 at a dealer in Daytona Beach, Florida. The No. 383 integrated amp was driving Revels, and the source was a Mark Levinson No. 390S CD processor. It sounded excellent but the dealer would not budge from full MSRP so I passed. I still find the 383 to be an attractive integrated amplifier.

[lakesailor]

I gave the 383 very serious consideration before deciding to go with either the Mac 6600 or 6900 series integrated instead (ended up with a 6900). Part of why I passed on the 383 was for the reasons cited by rockitman. It can be very difficult to find a service tech. with the Levinson schematics and Harmann International is of no assistance whatsoever. The fact that Mac. Stands behind what it has always sold is an important one to me.