Mark Levinson 23.5 or 336?

The 23.5 is an older Levinson amp, but very highly regarded.
I owned a #23 for about 5 years. The 23.5 was a major upgrade to the 23. I have also borrowed a 23.5, and I
currently use a 27.5 which is very similar but lower output.

The 23.5 was a superb amp with great dynamics, solid bass,
good harmonic structure and excellent focus and imaging.
It was rated at 200 W/Chan. The 336 is the latest big
stereo amp from Levinson, rated at 350 W/Chan. I haven't
heard a 336 though the conversation on the Net is generally
positive. However, you can buy two 23.5's and have money
left over for the price of a 336 on the used market. Unless
you needed 350 W/Chan, I think the 23.5 would probably suit
your needs just fine. My 27.5 is terrific.

I just purchased a ML334 demo amp, the 125 watt version of the 336. It is replacing a ML27.5. The 27.5 is an excellent amp, but the 334 has much tighter bass control and better imaging without messing up the mids and highs. It is a very smooth and powerful amp. The new amps are true voltage sources and incoporate some of the reference series amp items, like cyanate ester circuit boards only found in the Levinson "S" seris equipment. These are essentially "S" series amps (check out the website for more tech stuff). So I think it is worth the extra money, although the change you may hear is dependent on your sytem. Just as a caution the 336 is capable of over 25 amps of current into 4 ohm speakers at 120v. Good luck!

I am also thinking of buying a 334 for my Revel Studio. My room is medium. Is it power enough? thanks,

guohui

I am driving Audio Physics Avanti Centuries. They are 4 ohm speakers, with a medium room, high cellings and it is plenty of power. I don't think I hve ever had my 380 pre-amp above 65, but I don't know how power hungry Revel's are.