Are new Mark Levinson Preamps better than old?

No direct experience here, but recall reading of some having reliability issues with more current ML gear. Hopefully others will chime in. 

Thank you for your comments.  I know Levinson gear was legendary in the 1980s and 1990s, and I have been lucky with my two units from the 1990s: the ML 380 preamp I mentioned and my ML 332 power amp, each of which I have had repaired only once.  As I said, I am thinking of upgrading at least the preamp, but the two issues that I need information on are: do new Levinson products sound noticeably better, and are they as reliable?  I would have thought that 27 years of technological progress would offer better sound, but so far it sounds like it may not be a great idea.  If anyone else can provide more information, I would appreciate it.  I don't want to part with that kind of money and have no noticeable improvement.

I was using a 380S for nearly 20 years with great satisfaction.  I recently replaced it with a Primaluna Evo 400 which I find superior in the qualities of sound stage and musicality.  The only function I miss on the 380S is the ability to fine tune volume.  In this area it is unmatched. 

I feel I can add something to this conversation. For a reference point I own a fair amount of ML gear.  I know the local Harmon Karddon rep here in the Tampa area and buy my stuff straight from him.
My main system is a pair of ML 50 mono blocks with an ML No 526 preamp. I’m sending that to Revel F328BE speakers.  The amps are as advertised and have an incredible foundation. The clarity in the system is pretty amazing.  The 526 preamp is very good and the soundstage is to my liking, to say the least. I will say this since we’re talking about ML preamps - the rep sold me an ML No 5101 SACD player/streamer and told me in passing that the DAC in the 5101 is newer and better than the DAC in the 526.  The system’s performance while running a remastered SACD is on another level, depending on the material and the remastering, of course.  Streaming sounds great too through Qobuz and Tidal.   I don’t have any vinyl so that’s not part of the conversation. I guess my point is that the 526 and the 5101 both sound amazing & perform very very well and Levinson does seem to improve their gear as they release new models, in this case, most notably with the higher end DAC in the SACD player.  My two cents.

willcycle - did you ever hear the difference between the ML 380 and your ML 380S?  I wish I had purchased a a ML 380S all those years ago, but it was too costly for me at that time, and if I were to get one used it would be as old as my ML 380, so it would have to really bring better sound to be worth it.

triwhiz - thanks for the info on the ML 526.  I actually have an ML 5101, and I am very happy with it.  Since I already have the ML 5101 DAC and since I do not listen to vinyl, do you think the ML 523 would work as well?