Levinson Amps: What do they really sound like?

I have had a Levinson 27.5 and now have a 334 with Audio Physics Avanti Centuries and have found both amps to very detailed, outstanding soundstage, with great bass, warm mids and highs. I do believe you need a good cables with the Levinson. I am using Audioquest Diamond X3 and Dragon speaker cables. You also need a very good input source, the amp is VERY detailed and will reveal any other input weakness. But in the end everyone has an opinion and thier own preferance. With a good name like Levinson or Krell you can always get a large portion of your money back if you want to change or upgrade. Hope this helps.

I own a Levinson 331. Nothing in a vaccuum. Get your warmth from your tube preamp and interconnects, they do it better. Look to your amp to give you power(tightness at high volumes without warbling or distorting, and cleanliness.)This may make it sound sterile, add your tubes and warm cables like Cardas or Aq, and you achieve a balance. With transport,pre,amp,cables,speakers, you're always simply trying to acheive a balance. Warmth or precision or detail. Pick your favorite,most expensive piece and move from there. Every new piece will add or subtract from the total.

Ok here it goes. I owned a 331 for 2 years and sold to upgrade to the 335 and when I did my mouth hit the floor with the improvements Levinson had made. Prior to owning the Levinson gear I had a Krell Ksa 150 which was nice but the Levinson killed it. I had the 335 with The lEVINSON 39 CD PLAYER and a pair of Martin Logan Ascents. It was truly amazing. I was out of the hobby for a while and in the process of buying a home and decided to sell my Levinson gear. I did. When it was gone I really missed it. So I bought another 39 and instead I bought a krell FPB 200c and I still have my logans and at first I didnt like it but now that everything has warmed up it is awesome. As far as Levinsons sound it doesnt add or take away from the music and thats why I owned it for 5 yrs. I will buy it again some day but it will be the monos. I thik Levinson soundsd better than plinius the mcomack and the pass. Levinsons customer service is the best in high end audio today and I really miss having an all Levinson system. Liquid mids deep wide soundstage ultra smooth sounding.( providing the recording is smooth) deep bass. Waht more can I say buy and you will love it if not put it on audiogon and you will lose nothing. Good Luck Dan

There is much good advice here. The synergy with the speakers cannot be understated. In my case the VT 100mk2 I had simply wasn't up to my Wilson 5.1's. The 335 was clearly a better match, but it took about three days for all the votes to come in. The superior bass control was very obvious immediately but it took a few days for the 335 to open up and reproduce the air around the instruments I was used to. After many months there is no doubt the 335 is a great match with my Wilson's. The comments about the 335 being polite may simply be saying it depends on the speaker. With the 5.1's polite is good.

I agree that the Levinson's sound clinical. Like a guy in a white lab coat with an oscilloscope. There is the high end argument of adding nothing to the sound, the system will play exactly what is on the recording. Well, that may be, but I am just a yuppie with a CD collection. I would hate to spend $$$$$$$$$$$$ on a system, and have half my CD collection sound dissappointing, or unbearable. I have
been looking over the used high end listings all over the internet, and I see an awful lot of levinson gear....