Levinson 23.5 vs. 331 amplifiers - warm vs. cool?

the 23.5 gets very hot period, whether you're playing music or not, so it definitely needs adequate ventilation. no way i would keep it on all the time, but you could leave it on when you're going to be home for awhile. imagine how hot the 20.6 (pure class-A monoblocks) would get- again, they would need a well ventilated air-conditioned room. but i think these are superb sounding amps, regardless of what came before or after. some people are never satisfied, but that's their problem.

I believe the older Levinson were biased higher into pure class A. I like the sound of the 23.5 better than the 33X series. All SS gear will sound best if left on all the time, whether it is advisable is up to you pocketbook.

John

That's a nice amp, how does it sound compared to your friend's 331? Personally if that's the amp I was going to run I would deal with the electric bill and leave it on all the time. Both because I think my 27 sounds much better when it has been on for at least 24 hrs. and, only my opinion, but I think the stress of heating and cooling on an older amp is worse than any heat degradation.

Does it give off a lot of heat at idle? The owner's manual should state how much power it uses when left on at idle.