Levinson 27.5 to 335

I owned a ML331 for fourteen years and did not experience any capacitor problems that have been mentioned on this site. I used it to drive Thiel 3.6's that dip down to about 2.3 or 2.5 ohms. AThis does not invalidate what others have experienced, but wanted to share my experience with you.

Thanks ST01. The 3.6s are a beast to drive. Did the 331 hold up ok?

Keep in mind that Harmon/Levinson will not service your amp. You will have to find a 3rd party. I had and still do (mothballed) a 27.5. With Madrigal Labs out of the picture, I have abandoned ML/Harmon and would never consider them for a product purchase. For me, I went to Pass Labs XA series of amps that can be had at a good price if you buy used/demo. They sound better than any class A/B Levinson ever could. YMMV

I owned the #332 for many years and had no problems. Harmon has serviced anything I've sent there including some nearly antiques.

Dewinkle: A buddy of mine had the 3.6's and bought a 331.5. WOW what a difference from any previous amp he tried. Fantastic match.

I think Rockitman has a bad taste in his mouth for ML so I would overlook it because there are plenty of satisfied ML owners. I have never had any problems with ML service. They were always very helpful.

Just from what i have read from the forums here as well as stereophile, etc. the ML-335 is a much better amplifier and is a significant improvement over the #332 that it replaces. the early problems with Harmon regarding servicing your amp are not quite as bad as they were when ownership changed, but you can call to verify this... also, some people prefer the #334-5-6 over the #400 series as far as deep bass is concerned; a levinson 335-336 will outperform the PASS XA AMPS in the way they produce everything on the recording from the deepest notes to the highest effortlessly and with stunning dynamics, so the Pass XA's do have some drawbacks in spite of their excellent sound. also IMHO anyone who thinks they need a BIAS meter on the front of their amp or two layers of aluminum plating is not focusing on sonics. I would rather have an (old) PASS ALEPH 1.2 pair which sounds amazing without all of the latest gimmicks.
anyway, the ML-27.5 doesn't throw a 3-dimensional stage like the later ML offerings (i know, i owned a 23.5 which was a great amp for its time). you might also consider a rowland model-6 which has a "warmer" sound and plenty of watts.
an XA-100.5 is still around $10k used- anything less than that cannot
compare to a ML-335 in the ways i mentioned above.

Thanks for everyone's input. I finally got the beast into my basement and it is warming up right now. Tonight I will take it for a test drive.

As far as service goes, my dealer still services ML equipment, so I am not worried about that aspect. I also found out the caps were indeed replaced on this unit.

FF, it is the height and depth of the sound stage that I am actually looking to improve. The 27.5 is a fine amp, but I feel like it just doesn't have enough power for the Thiels and I also don't feel like I have as large of sound stage as I should. I have played for hours with speaker set up and have it about as good as I can get it right now.

Can't wait until later

I think French_fries hit the nail on the head.

Case closed. I'm buying the 335. The sound stage was amazing both in terms of height and depth. The additional power/current also seemed to enable the Thiels to sound better at lower volumes. The 27.5 seem to need to be driven before my system woke up and came to life.

Thanks for everyone's input. I am excited about my new purchase.

Anyone have any idea where to get one of those 6 pin cables to connect the 380S preamp to the amp to control the switch from stand by to on?