I own the Mark Levinson No 27 (two for biamping). Having owned several different solid state amps and having heard many different models in other systems, for my tastes, the No. 27 is the best Solid State can do. The No 20 monoblocks do offer a tad 'more' (after much warm-up) but there's not much in it - and the No 27 is so much more practical (doesn't roast you alive and use so much electricity). I could go on and on about the excellent soundstaging (a trait of Levinson), tonal/timbral rightness, absensce of grain etc etc. But the real reason I love these amps so much is their unfailing musicality. Given a decent preamp, the No 27 makes music engaging and enjoyable, and this is something far too amny components fail to do. The Classe CA-200 is a good amp also, but to me does not have the same magic of the Levinson. One of my all time favourite amps is the Audio Research Classic 150. These hybrid monoblocks bring music to life in such a way very few amps can manage.
Mark Levinson 27.5, Classe CA-200 or AR-D400
Hello all. I am looking for information regarding which ofo the three (3) power amps mentioned above would be a good musical support for my Magnapans 1.6 speakers?
I don't have the funds to go for a brand new power amp so I've been looking hard at the use market. I understand that the two Classe amps are more powerful than the ML 27.3 but think there is a good possibility it will be able to drive the Maggies since I don't listen to music at really loud levels. I mostly listen to small group and big band jazz and large, small scale classical music and small and large scale choral works. I am looking for the power amplifier (solid state) that will do a good job of producing the human voice well and throwing a big sound stage with plenty of depth. While I love the tube sound I don't want to deal with changing tubes, biasing, etc. I may have to sacrifice something in the way of sound staging but I am prepared to deal with that.
I would very much appreciate any assistance I can get from the many expert listeners and users of these and other power amps. Thanks much.
I don't have the funds to go for a brand new power amp so I've been looking hard at the use market. I understand that the two Classe amps are more powerful than the ML 27.3 but think there is a good possibility it will be able to drive the Maggies since I don't listen to music at really loud levels. I mostly listen to small group and big band jazz and large, small scale classical music and small and large scale choral works. I am looking for the power amplifier (solid state) that will do a good job of producing the human voice well and throwing a big sound stage with plenty of depth. While I love the tube sound I don't want to deal with changing tubes, biasing, etc. I may have to sacrifice something in the way of sound staging but I am prepared to deal with that.
I would very much appreciate any assistance I can get from the many expert listeners and users of these and other power amps. Thanks much.
5 responses Add your response
