levinson 436monos vs. krell mcx 350monos

If the sonics are close, go for the Krell. Levinson's customer serice is a nightmare.

I would take the Krell. One of the best all around amps I have ever owned. Good on all accounts.

Levinson's lack of support and service are now legendary. It would be hard to find worse. They will charge you about $1200.00 on the average before they will even agree to service your equipment. And how about this for prompt service time? One year and a half and the 436 amps had to be sent back and forth three times after that to get them to work. Once they were finally fixed they did sound good, but never great.

Harman's take over of Levinson, "becaues of poor service and support by the Madrigal guys", is the biggest farce I've ever seen.

Here is yet another abomination by Harman/Revel. Failure to keep replacement drivers built and in stock for Revel Salons and Studios. I know people that have waited over a year for the midrange drivers. This is not a slam against Kevin Voecks the designer at Revel. I believe he is a great designer. Too bad Revel is part of Harman.

I will never purchase any equipment manufactured by Harman Kardon or any of its affilates ever again.

now now Steve...lets not be hating the ml gear too much =). even though you're right on all accounts regarding HK/Madrigal, the ml amps can sound really good. mine fell right into step and gave me the sound i was looking for. lets just hope i don't need service anytime soon.

did factor in the rip off/poor service factor i'm expecting from HK should i need their help (or lack there of). still loved the sound and went with the ml. seems the 400 series is much more reliable then the 300's... except for your horror story experience. we'll see?? my fingers are crossed.

go ahead and laugh at me when i post a rant if/when my 432 takes a crap and hk kills me on the repair cost. i'm gonna enjoy it in the meantime =).

cheers buddy

Hey Lev,
I don't really have an issue with the sound. In fact I plotted and planned to purchase the big #33 amplifiers. I wanted to owne the complete reference system. The Levinson sounded great to me and I did enjoy it for many years. That is one reason why I'm so disappointed in what Harman has done. They took a great line, and trashed it.
And they let their loyal dealers and customers die on the vine.
That being said, I'm not surprised your really enjoying your amp. I know it sounds great and the looks are killer.
Have fun, Lev!

i know what you mean Steve. it really is a shame what HK did to a once top tier name/brand. i wonder if they even know/care about the horrible reputation they have out here?. i actually liked the sound of the 336 a tad better then the 432 but refused to take the much bigger risk(imo) involving the 300 series. seems many of the 300's have a regularly scheduled failure interval that cost about $1500.

i agree with you and alot of other folks who say avoid HK/ML if possible. i wanted to talk myself out of it but truely loved the sound. it was the best i could find that fit my paramiters/budget. like i said before....fingers are crossed.

i've been a krell fan for a long time...especially there older lines. your system has really come along nicely. you went from outstanding to incredible very quickly. it's gotta sound fantastic!.

enjoy buddy.