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Mark Levinson 37 transport or new cdp today..?

Hi all,

Considering purchasing a dedicated transport for my system, and had in mind a 2nd hand Mark Levinson No.37.

My question is - how does a ML No.37 (given its age) stack up against even something like a Rega Apollo(transport section only) these days? 10 years is a long long time in digital, and I'm wondering if a relatively inexpensive CDP today like the Apollo (as a transport) or another (new) transport would better the older ML No.37?

Budget is a factor for me - I can probably only spend around 1K (maybe $1200USD) used or new, which is why I was thinking of something like an Apollo..

Can anyone provide me with their thoughts pls ? =)

I currently have a Meridian 598 (DVD transport) running (via coax digital) directly into a Meridian 568.2mm. Whilst the Meridian 598 is ok, I've seen a few posts here from people who've own it who've advised it is a bit uninvolving compared to other players. I know for example that even compared to my older, far cheaper, Rega Planet, that, the Meridian 598 seems to lack definite 'involvement'/boogie factor in the music, even considering the Rega is a far far cheaper player.

Wondering if a new source (transport) may be the answer.

Appreciate people's thoughts as to whether older (reference) transports such as Mark Levinson are still worth it today, compared to the transport sections of new 2010 model cd players? (Price considered given my budget =)

Thanks!!

Andrew
rippingtonblue
nglazer
846 posts
 
Get a used CEC TL class transport. They are top loaders, never break, look beautiful and sound enchanting! I have a TL-1X made in 1997 and never have had a day of trouble with it in about 8 years. Had it modded by RAM with a new Superclock added and will compare it to any transport, old or new.

Neal
coxhaus
231 posts
 
If this is any help I had a Mark Levinson DAC36S repaired 2 years ago. I am lucky in that I live in the same town as one of the service centers. I drove over and they charged me $990.00 just to work on it. It turned out to be a teflon circuit board. They charged me total about $1550.00 and told me there were no more teflon circuit boards avaiable if it broke again. They also told me it would be $990.00 just to look at my 37 transport if there were any problems. I sold both a year later.
jrsolis
1 posts
 
I was just about to ask a similar question. I sold my ML 37 transport 7 years ago because moving to DC and downsizing. Now, I am using a mac front end with my old Theta digital generation pro Va DAC but still remember how realistic the 37 sounded. I have not been able to get that kind of sound since. I am considering changing the DAC, but not sure how to get the magic I had with the Levinson transport from the computer.
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