Levinson 333 Upgrad to 436 Monoblock

I have the 436 paired with Totem Sig Mani 2's. The combination is amazing and I've tried some other amps like Ayre V1-Xe. The Mani 2's share the same drivers as the Totem 1 so they should sound similar.

I dumped that 333 in a heartbeat. How long have you had the 333? I had mine for 8 years. Bought it from a dealer as an open box demo unit. In that 8 year period I had sent it back twice to replace blown capacitors. And I found out that the dealer had sent it back once already with the same issue. During this last repair, I asked the tech about the problem, and he told me that it was due to a design flaw common with all ML 33x amps. It's expensive to replace these if your amp is out of warranty. I had to shell out over $1200. My understanding is that the Harmon has since extended the warranty. The amp sounded better with the new caps though. Harmon said they switched supplier. I ended up trading mine in for a Pass X350.5. A friend of mine came over to listen a few days after I received my brand new X350.5, not even broken in yet. He went home and traded in his 433 for the 350.5. So I agree with that there are better amps out there. But I understand the benefits and some people's desire to use all components from the same company. In that case, trade in the 333 for the 43x series before you have to shell out money to fix capacitors.

FrankC

Thanks everyone for your kind inputs! I shall make a decision soon re this

Best,
Kris

Go for it! If you decide to upgrade to a larger speaker in the future you know that you will not have to worry about enough power to drive them.

Pepe

I would think the performance gain from upgrading your amps would be less than if you traded the 380S for a 326S preamp. Something to consider.

IMO ,I agree with Cpk the 436 is a better sounding amp..My question is have you ever considered moving away from Levinson as there are much better gear out there with better build quality,performance and service.Just a thought.

Of course, overkill. But if you would like to save the world by buying something and make money run the world - that s fine. Even better to buy into new green technology, like class-d amp. But if you are not happy with the sound at home, you maybe better off to spend money on new speakers.

C, I say go for it. Totem recommends the best front end one can get. I run Krell into Totem. You won't be sorry.

I agree with Cpk, To much power is not a factor and a better sounding amp is never overkill.

There usually is allot more than just power, why not bring them home and have a listen. They might just absolutely leave you in awe you or maybe not.

Local dealer and looking a trading, that's what I would do.

No such thing as too much power and 436 are a better sounding amps

i think you already know that you'e more than 'there' on all counts. your only limiting factors of any note are your room and your loudspeakers(even though the totems are among the best monitors made). a sub may be an option of course for deeper bass, but even that might detract from what appears to be a great system.