Levinson did not place stickers of the #38S on the rear. The genuine 38S Preamp had that moniker on the front but simply state #38 on the rear near the serial number as well as the display on startup. You have a true #38S. The new remotes dedicated to it cost $1375.00 from Levinson so save you pennies or keep you eye out for a used one stealbay. They normally fetch $325-$400 used.
Mark Levinson 38s Question Real or Fake?
Hi, recently got a Mark Levinson 38s. The front plate says 38s but the rear only says Model 38. I called Mark Levinson and asked someone in the tech support department whether this is a true 38s. I thought that if I gave him the serial number he could simply look it up. He said since the company has changed hands and moved a few times they no longer have records for such an old product, but said that it’s probably a true 38s because no one would go thru the trouble of changing the front plate. When I turn on the unit the display only says “No 38”. Tech support also said when Mark Levinson upgraded the units even though they put on a new front plate with the 38s designation on the rear they only put a sticker which was prone to falling off.
Am I being paranoid? Any way of verifying? At this point I’m assuming it is an “upgraded” 38 but was never told that when I purchased it.
Lastly, the unit came without a remote and without power cord. I am using an “L” shaped power cord but it sticks out too much. Any way of getting an original ML power cord and remote?
My first post, thanks in advance
Am I being paranoid? Any way of verifying? At this point I’m assuming it is an “upgraded” 38 but was never told that when I purchased it.
Lastly, the unit came without a remote and without power cord. I am using an “L” shaped power cord but it sticks out too much. Any way of getting an original ML power cord and remote?
My first post, thanks in advance
9 responses Add your response
Mangon ...I too have the ML 38s preamp and when it turns it only says 38. I am the 2nd owner of this and the first owner bought it brand new as a 38s so im sure they never said 38s when first turning on. Also i have the original L plug and yes it does extend down past the feet so i added foot spikes to raise the unit up. Also have the original remote which is like 10 in and is a very strong black aluminum very highly built remote. Good luck in finding one. |
the L plug that goes in the bottom, I ordered 1 from amazon but it does not clear the legs of the 38s. Any suggestions? https://www.ebay.com/itm/IEC-320-C13-Down-angled-rewirable-plug-C13-plug-female-UL-approved-plug/251... |
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Thank you all for taking the time to answer my post. I took George’s advice and opened up the unit and there I saw on the board “38s” just like on the pic you posted George. Well that’s a relief. Again, thank you bar81, brf and George. Now back to the L plug that goes in the bottom, I ordered 1 from amazon but it does not clear the legs of the 38s. Any suggestions? I will call Levinson on Monday but unless they’re using the same plugs on the newer units not holding out much hope they would still stock these. |
From what I’ve been able to find, it’s possible the output opamps on the 38 were AD845 which are singles, and it seems the 38s has now got OPA2604’s which are duals, which is major circuit board track reconfiguration to do this. No pics I found on the net are clear enough to be able to read those opamps. If you know where to look for the output opamps you’ll see what they are. Cheers George |
The reason maybe, that yours was upgraded from a 38, and all that was done was important to sound improvement parts only, the circuit boards, to keep cost down. If you read this from Stereophile, it says what the differences are, you should be able to see the differences if you study yours and compare, I had a very quick look and there’s not much I saw except for the board ID logo. https://www.stereophile.com/solidpreamps/mark_levinson_no38s_preamplifier/index.html This is the pic of a 38 (without transformer cover attached) http://www.hifishock.org/galleries/electronics/mark-levinson/preamplifier/no-38-1b-mark-levinson.jpg This is a pic of a 38S http://www.hifishock.org/galleries/electronics/mark-levinson/preamplifier/no-38s-1-mark-levinson.jpg Cheers George |
Should be legit, that sounds very plausible based upon what I know about how lazy manufacturers were back then about properly labeling upgrades. No one would waste their time faking a 38S faceplate, it’s not worth the effort. Kind of strange comment about the power cord, there was plenty of clearance under my old 38. |
