The Levinson Sound?


I have never listened to a Mark Levinson amp, but am curious as to what sound characteristics they have, especially the older amps from the 90's. How do they compare to say Pass Labs amps? Any info would be appreciated.
333jeffery
All ML are great, except for one.
They really tried to cure the evils of that topology class, but only made things worse, it was never going to happen the doomed Class-D No53 monoblocks
https://www.stereophile.com/content/mark-levinson-no53-reference-monoblock-power-amplifier

Cheers George
ML-2 is a legendary amplifier without peers - really.
Not only can it compete with modern designs (2020), it’ll subjectively and objectively outperform 99% of them.

Sonics far superior to anything of the time (70s) from Threshold, Krell, Phase Linear, Harman, Marantz or anything else. Phenomenal build quality & design.

ML later opted for far more complex, multiple gain-stage, massive feedback circuits and so was the magic of ML-2 gone forever.
I had a dealer-friend and had the chance to frequently listen to the newer ML amps (and other brands for that matter) and compare them to ML-2’s.
Nothing came even close to the sound of the Ml-2’s.

I found (and still do) the sound of the newer ML creations unable to match the sweetness, effortlessness, natural timbre and depth of the ML-2’s, 33 and 33H included.
ML-53’s sounded way too flat and bright for my taste, almost pierecing :-(

Remember: For best sound quality RUN SINGLE ENDED, NOT BALANCED!This is very important.

Problems?
Low power:
For low sensitivity speakers playing in large, deadening rooms, 25W in 8 ohms is not gonna cut it.I know guys who’ve modified it for higher power (60W in 8 ohms), but you’ll need electronics knowledge and tools to do it, so not recommended for John Doe.

Logistics:
Big and heavy. You must put them in your own separate listening room. Or as my wife put it: either they go or you go ;-)


Electricity consumption:Actually not that bad, compared to say Aleph 2’s or some older Krell (prior to Plateau Bias) which were electrical ovens.


I’ve heard a cpl of Chinese clones... they’re not even close, so don’t throw away your money. In one word: If you find one = get it !!
I have ml 532 and 326S cd ml 512 speaker jbl DD66000 sound fantastic dynamik details everything in very High performance class speaker cables Bertram proxima CU and silver not be wire just changes between Them from time to time 
Use to have ml 433/380S and ml 390 S and speakers like jbl 4430/35 4343 and jbl 250 jubilee and I dont miss any of these compaired with my set up now 
Anyone heard the ML No 532? I have been told it’s more analytic much higher resolution than previous series but less musical. Did anyone compare it to the 33x and 33h? It seems difficult to get any reviews on the No 532 and it is not anymore on ML’s website. Thanks a lot 
i think that ML gets hit with the bias of the darkish sounding gear of way back. the 326s and the current 523 are superb preamps by any measure. i also think the 585 integrated lives up to the rave reviews it’s gotten. 
we audiophiles pigeon hole a company’s sound whether they change over time or not.
as an example i won’t purchase mcintosh because i have a bias that their gear is somewhat dull sounding and doesn’t use high end audio parts. i have no idea what it sounds like today.
same for cardas. i’m biased that it lacks clarity being full and soft on top. is it still? i doubt it.