Amp repair cost — is this right?

Great to hear!  I'm assuming since you mention Texas that you sent your 380S to Pyramid for repair?  I have the same preamp but so far so good.

Although it cost an arm and a leg to fix from Pyramid, my Levinson 23.5 amp is sounding phenomenal.

flipwils 11;  Yes, I sent it to Pyramid.  I have never had a problem with the preamp but at over 20 years old, and a history of potential cap leakage resulting in board etching, I thought it best to have it inspected and refurbished.  Can't wait to hear it!

That is  a high price.   You would have a hard time finding a price that big going elsewhere.   Parts are less than $70 estimated.   Time for work, let's go long and say 8 hrs.   An experienced tech, esp with that exact piece of equipment, would do this faster.    $100  bucks an hour to cover labor and overhead, I come up with 870 plus tax.     None of these rebuilds are cheap anymore, that's for sure.   All depends on how much you like this amp, and what it would cost to replace it new.   If done properly, amp should last awhile.

I figured I'd update this thread in case anyone was interested.

I went ahead and authorized the repair. I was already out $160 for the diagnostic, $115 for shipping, and would pay another $100ish to have it shipped back. Then if I found a different repair center, another $100ish to ship it to them. So even if I could find someone to do it for $800, I had $475 in sunk costs making it close to a wash and exposing me to extra risk in shipping the amp all over the place.

The repairs appear to be done well - everything inside looks clean and well put together. The large filter caps are now Nichicon, so at least decent quality. I hooked up the amp in my second system and it is working fine. Hard to say if it sounds better since I haven't heard it in two years and my second system is a home theater. I will eventually try it in my main stereo system but literally every component in it has changed since the last time I used this amp so that also won't be an apples to apples comparison. 

In the end, I wasn't ready to just "throw it away" so even though it was a lot of money, I was basically backed into the cost corner already and thought it was better to have the amp working perfectly again. I do appreciate the feedback I got in this thread. In the end, I'm sure I overpaid for the repair but based on my sunk costs, that was basically inevitable. Lesson learned and at least the amp should be good for another couple decades. In the long run I'm not going to regret it.

@jnehma1 

whre are you located?
  I sent my amp to two places for different repairs. 
 Both were stellar!!!   One in Washington state, the other in Illinois.
Maybe their price would be better? Maybe?
Soundsclassic.com is in Illinois. North in Rockford.


How much do you like the amp is the question?

  I sent in my Sunfire Sig. to be checked, some caps were replaced, and other stuff, was checked, and he said he thought the amp was brand new, as there was no blackening or misuse, or any kind of wear associated with a used amp. Made me happy.
  Hoping to get 20 more years from this amp.
    I love the 1ohm posts, and the loose style of bass, which is a tube sound trait.  Such a good amp.


 Wh