To my ears Levinson amps are very listenable and musical.
I work from home and am able to listen all day long. I never find my ears fatigued.
I will agree that they may not give you the "excitement" that you hear with some amps - but I think that is the key to the fact that I can enjoy listening for 8 hours or more.
I have compared a couple of very well respected amps in my system and typically my experience goes something like this.
"Wow - this thing is great - it sounds more open and unveiled than my amp". Then about 20-30 minutes in - I sense a throbbing in my ears and suddenly I simply cannot enjoy the music because I am so distracted by it. I don't know what exactly is causing it - but I would suspect the upper frequencies. The amps I've compared are NOT described as "bright" mind you.
It may be that I'm just very sensitive - but I've repeated this with several different amps always with similar results.
When I plug my Levinson back in I breathe a sigh of relief and go back to enoying the music. To me that's what it's all about - to other they live for the absolute minutia of detail and attack. I would say that Levinson is not for them.
Levinsons better amps give you the details - but does so with smoothness - at least to my ears. I have heard a few Levinsons that I didn't care for as much as my 336.
My amp has a wonderfull fullness and weight - especially in the mid-bass and bass. The top end is probably a bit rolled off compared to the other amps I've tested - but again I think that is the key to my enjoyment. The mid's are smooth and liquid.
Here's the rest of my system - I wouldn't consider any of my components inherently "bright" or "fatiguing" in nature.
Linn Unidisk (Source)
Meridian 861 (Pre/DAC)
Aerial 10T's (Speakers)
In summary - it really depends on what type of system you are trying to build and what you want out of it. For me the Levinson fits just right.
I work from home and am able to listen all day long. I never find my ears fatigued.
I will agree that they may not give you the "excitement" that you hear with some amps - but I think that is the key to the fact that I can enjoy listening for 8 hours or more.
I have compared a couple of very well respected amps in my system and typically my experience goes something like this.
"Wow - this thing is great - it sounds more open and unveiled than my amp". Then about 20-30 minutes in - I sense a throbbing in my ears and suddenly I simply cannot enjoy the music because I am so distracted by it. I don't know what exactly is causing it - but I would suspect the upper frequencies. The amps I've compared are NOT described as "bright" mind you.
It may be that I'm just very sensitive - but I've repeated this with several different amps always with similar results.
When I plug my Levinson back in I breathe a sigh of relief and go back to enoying the music. To me that's what it's all about - to other they live for the absolute minutia of detail and attack. I would say that Levinson is not for them.
Levinsons better amps give you the details - but does so with smoothness - at least to my ears. I have heard a few Levinsons that I didn't care for as much as my 336.
My amp has a wonderfull fullness and weight - especially in the mid-bass and bass. The top end is probably a bit rolled off compared to the other amps I've tested - but again I think that is the key to my enjoyment. The mid's are smooth and liquid.
Here's the rest of my system - I wouldn't consider any of my components inherently "bright" or "fatiguing" in nature.
Linn Unidisk (Source)
Meridian 861 (Pre/DAC)
Aerial 10T's (Speakers)
In summary - it really depends on what type of system you are trying to build and what you want out of it. For me the Levinson fits just right.