Levinson 360 vs Benchmark

Very interesting... I've sworn never again to repair my No39 when it breaks, and replace it with a Benchmark. And you guys say it's not in the same league... hmmm. I just might have to try one on their 30-day trial offer and see for myself.

The Benchmark is better than alot of people think. It performs quite well with the proper power cord, line conditioner and IC's; as well as isolation and digital cable. It is incredibly resolving, projects a wide, believable soundstage and does a great job at retrieving those little nuances which create the emotional involvement most look for. Mine did well with the upgraded fuse (HiFi Tuning). I didn't realize how great the Benchmark was until I upgraded to the Berkeley Alpha Dac. While the Berkley is much more resolving and much better in many, many ways, it isn't better by as much as I thought. The little bugger really surprised me. It wasn't blown away by the Berkeley. The Becnhmark, in my opinion, was half as good, which, compared to the Berkeley, is pretty good. Give a warmed up, broken Benchmark with good IC/PC, etc a listen and I think you will be very surprised.

I'm listening to my Benchmark as I write this. I went with an MIT power cord, Kimber interconnects, and a Locus USB cable. The quality of the DAC1 took leaps forward when I had Chris Johnson of Parts Connexion modify it for around $500. So I'm still not in for the megabuck DAC prices, but I'm 3extremely pleased with what I'm hearing.

Thanks for all th input so far - please keep it comming :-)

Thedautch -
May I ask what mods were done by Parts Connexion?

I ran a first gen Benchmark next to my Levinson 360s for about two weeks (borrowed it). On my system the Levinson took the brass ring ... I like the Benchmark and I will probably buy one just to play with. I might even invest in a mod or two but I don’t think it will ever match the Levinson. Of course looking at the retail price for the two units it should be obvious. I was running a Wadia 23 into both DACs for the Redbook CD test. I spent a couple days going back and forth and then switched to my PC's S/PDIF out. I just love the FLAC files fed into the Levinson upsampled to 96Khz. That being said; if and when the 360s dies I will need to do something. Repairing Levinson gear it simply insane and I won’t do it. That is what started my search for a suitable replacement DAC. The 360s is running great for now and I will do everything I can to keep it going, however I haven’t had the best luck with Levinson gear. I see the 36's and 36s DACs showing up every once in a while and the price is pretty manageable. I would be very interested in doing a side by side, if I can ever get my hands on one to test out. Stereophile did a review of the 360s that I read sometime back and as I recall stated the 360 sounded noticeably better than the 36 or 36s but my system is pretty modest so maybe not so much.

I'd like to say it was close but no so on my system ... the Levinson reigned supreme. It had added a level of clearity and removed the grain from my Redbook CDs. It gives my turntable a run for the money on the certain discs. I wouldnt describe it as "analog" but the best digital can offer, at least the best I can afford.