Does the Mark Levinson 331 suck?

Personally I don't think ANY highend gear SUCKS on its own ... just may not fit your idea of how music should be reproduced. That does not mean it sucks for everyone (or everyone's system). With the right ancillaries and cables you can probably tailor the sound of anything to your taste or, conversely, make it sound bad to your ears.

One of the problems in highend audio is the attitude that if I don't own it, don't sell it (in the case of retailors) or don't like it, it SUCKS. Even Bose sounds great to some people and if they are enjoying and buying music for that system, who cares what you think.

I'm glad Kevin came right out and said what was on his mind. I considered buying a 331 but was put off by bad reviews like this one. These folks are right about matching an amp to your system. The most important component, I think, to consider when choosing complementary equipment are the speakers.
I've owned a Parasound A21 for about 6 months now and I really like it. I've owned one tube amp in the past and while I do like tube sound, ideally, I believe the goal of high end amplification should be to achieve a tube-like sound without adding so many impurities into your system. Isn't that the highest compliment reviewer pay to a good solid state amp, to say it's tube like? Tubes, it seems to me, take a short cut to this, the ultimate goal.

Hi,it's again Kevin. My system is a Vpi Scout turntable with an Ortofon Jubilee cartridge, a Rotel 1070 CD player, an Adcom 750 pre-amp,Revel F30 speakers and signal cable cables (good inexpensive stuff). I hate to be so hard on Levinson it's just that when you this much spend you expect to be taken to the moon and it's not happening. I should add that I have the suckiest sounding room you could possibly imagine and it's killing my bass and mid-bass.

Kevin,Auaaron is right on the money,the 331 likes
tube preamp like the audio research LS22,it is
a good amp, they like dark sounding speaker,and
silver wire audioquest,But it is a good amp.Be
patient,you are experiencing component mismatch.I
audition that amp its a good one.

Hi Kevin. I've owned a 331 and other Levinson amps after that and none of them sucked. The 331 is not the very best available, but it beats most of what's out there. I see several problems with your system: the biggest is probably your room--remember, a bad room will quickly ruin even the best of systems. Secondly, your "generic" "signal cable cables" more than likely suck! Cheap cables are like cheap tires on a Porsche--you just don't get the same performance as with good ones. Bite the bullet and get good cables! Transparent Audio cables sound very nice with Levinson. Try some! Your CD player is OK, but out of it's league with a Levinson anything. The Adcom is out of it's league too and can sound bright and irritating with the wrong combination of components. In sum, your VPI and Levinson are the strongest links--the room and other stuff the weakest. I'd try a different room first, then upgrade the rest! I'm not trying to be harsh, but in a system, you must strive for a good BALANCE. You've got some very good components mixed in with some average ones. Then there's that bad room.... consult with an acoustician who deals with home audio/video systems all the time. Not all do. He or she may have some solutions that may help improve your room if not cure it of it's problems. Unfortunately, a "magical" sounding amp will not cure what ails your system or room. Good luck.