Mark Levinson No. 334 vs 23.5

I've owned the 20.6 and 23.5 and have heard the 334 at great lengths and if it were my money I would buy a "real" Mark Levinson and go for the 23.5 or if you really want to treat yourself, find a pair of 20.6! The 334 are bit more transparent than the older ML but they lack soul and emotion. I use to be a big fan of ML until they started gouging the customer for repairs.

I had the 23.5 probably 10 years ago, it's no comparison by today's standard. At that time, it was easily over taken by Clayton Audio M100, I lost a lot of money selling the 23.5.

BRF I have to ask, how does the 334 lack soul and emotion? I have heard it and used to own a 27.5. Personally I liked the 334 better and thats not saying the 27.5 sounded like chopped liver. I thought the 300 series just sounds a bit smoother and more refined. It is system dependant but I think if your speakers are a tad on the warm side you might like the 23.5 or 27.5 better. If your speakers are more on the neutral or cooler side then the newer 300 series might be the ticket. Of course this is a matter of preference :)

"BRF I have to ask, how does the 334 lack soul and emotion?"

The 334 never engaged me with the music. I have long since moved over to SET, therefore, you could say my preference is biased more to the organic side of neutral. My experience with the 300 series vs. 23.5 is quite different than yours as I found the older 20.6 and 23.5 to be a warmer sounding amp than the 300 series. We do agree that system matching is the key. I had my ML 23.5 and then 20.6 pair with Wilson WP3/2 which benefited from the ML warmer nature.

As stated above, I would not touch a ML product due to their poor reputation for lack of customer support for out of warrantee products.