Mark Levinson No. 52 Reference Dual-Monaural Preamplifier Preview

[admin]

The Mark Levinson No. 52 Reference Dual-Monaural Preamplifier has just about every available technology to ensure an uncorrupted sonic experience. This fully analogue preamp has separated the audio and control portions into two distinct chassis connected by two separate DC power cords and a dedicated control cable. While you won't find Internet streaming, iDevice support, or any feature released in the last five years, what you will find is a dedication to signal purity that boarders on the insane. The question is, are you willing to pay $25,000 for that level of insanity?

Discuss "Mark Levinson No. 52 Reference Dual-Monaural Preamplifier Preview" here. Read the article.

 

[HDSapper]

$25,000!! That is insanity! I'll settle for my Emotiva USP-1. Do I concede that the No. 52 is better? Sure. Twice as good? Maybe. Ten times as good? Not a chance! And since the Mark Levinson is 60 TIMES THE PRICE... anyone who buys it is insane.

 

[kevon27]

$25,000!! That is insanity! I'll settle for my Emotiva USP-1. Do I concede that the No. 52 is better? Sure. Twice as good? Maybe. Ten times as good? Not a chance! And since the Mark Levinson is 60 TIMES THE PRICE... anyone who buys it is insane.

I would be so cool to see an all out Emotiva VS the High End guys review..
Sometimes it has nothing to do with actual performance of a product... it's more about status and bragging rights.. A $25,000 sedan can get you from point a to point b just as good as a $150,000 sedan. But a rich person will want the 150g's car just to say they have a 150g car..

 

[gene]

I would be so cool to see an all out Emotiva VS the High End guys review..
Sometimes it has nothing to do with actual performance of a product... it's more about status and bragging rights.. A $25,000 sedan can get you from point a to point b just as good as a $150,000 sedan. But a rich person will want the 150g's car just to say they have a 150g car..

A $25k Sedan will NEVER outperform or drive more comfortably than a $150k Sedan though....

 

[Hocky]

A $25,000 sedan can get you from point a to point b just as good as a $150,000 sedan.

That is pretty arguable.

 

[gene]

That is pretty arguable.

Not really. Drive a Honda Accord then drive a BMW 550i (Which is under $100k). Nothing arguable about that and very easy to measure performance differences on a track.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Not really. Drive a Honda Accord then drive a BMW 550i (Which is under $100k). Nothing arguable about that and very easy to measure performance differences on a track.

He did say can get you from point a to point b just as good as saying nothing about performance or comfort.

...... anyone who buys it is insane.

Well, not necessarily in the strictest definition of insanity, right?

 

[Hocky]

In my book, as good as includes comfort and overall experience. A $25k car can't get you there "as good as" a $150k car. Can it get you there in the same time frame if you follow all traffic laws? Yea, ok, it'll do that, but that is about where the similarities stop. lol

 

[aarond]

I'm sure its bang for the buck is on par with the Lexicon BD-30 Blu-ray Player!

 

[adwilk]

Actually the parallel would be a car costing north of 1.5 million. Its moot, however, because even a car costing 25K besting one of 150K would be an anomaly. Price comparisons in amplifiers is a different story.

 

[gene]

Actually the parallel would be a car costing north of 1.5 million. Its moot, however, because even a car costing 25K besting one of 150K would be an anomaly. Price comparisons in amplifiers is a different story.

exactly! the laws of diminishing returns happens much quicker with audio gear than it does with cars. Hence it should b/c cars are far more complex and expensive to produce.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Not really. Drive a Honda Accord then drive a BMW 550i (Which is under $100k). Nothing arguable about that and very easy to measure performance differences on a track.

I'm on the same page as Gene. When I compared my new Emotiva ERC-2 CD player to my previous Levinson unit the differences are stark. The ERC-2 tries to be high-end looking, and its electrical performance is very good, but in terms of design, fit and finish, and overall refinement there's no comparison.

On the Levinson everything is custom designed for the unit and absolutely top quality. Even the control buttons are machined and anodized aluminum. On the ERC-2 they are chromed plastic. Emotiva used a similar black-finished aluminum faceplate to the Levinson, but the shaping and finish of the entire cabinet is in a different league altogether on the Levinson. The entire top and sides of the Levinson are a single machined piece of aluminum.

The ERC-2's CD mechanism is a clunky slot-loaded computer unit that makes a lot of noises and takes a long time to load and unload a disc. The Levinson has a CNC-machined drawer that opens and closes with a hiss.

And the Levinson is 15 years old, and used SOTA technology of the day to sound better than anything available, IMHO, like huge and pricey Ultra Analog DACs. The ERC-2 is able to take advantage of recent VLSI designs that make even better performance available for $15 each in volume.

The rest of the ERC-2 is a bag of parts by comparison to the Levinson. The remote control, for example, looks impressive, being machined aluminum and all, until you compare it to the Levinson's, and it looks and feels cheap. The display is blue-green color like in a GM truck, and doesn't match the other LED colors. The Levinson uses expensive dot-matrix LEDs. The list of differences is very long.

All of that said, the ERC-2 cost me $369 new, and the latest replacement for my Levinson is $15,000. In the Levinson's defense it also plays SACDs and acts as an very nice digital pre-amp with a precision analog volume control, but for $15,000 I suppose it should do a lot of things. Like last forever, which it probably won't.

I also think the ERC-2 is an amazing value. I think the ratio of parts cost to retail price for the $369 I paid for it must be very good. Perhaps record-setting for a volume supplier. I honestly don't know how Emotiva does it. Does that make the Levinson a bad value? I don't think so. If you want an engineering work of art, and $15,000 doesn't mean more to you than $500 means to a lot of people, then that's what it costs to get that level of refinement. Yes, the Emotiva also plays CDs, but I can't say I have much in the way of pride of ownership with it, like I did with the Levinson.

 

[cpp]

$25,000, ridiculous regardless of the specs..
Just take the money and buy a used Honda.

 

[Irvrobinson]

$25,000, ridiculous regardless of the specs..
Just take the money and buy a used Honda.

Why would anyone want a used Honda in place of a pre-amp?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I love it. So pure class-A. So analogue. No DSP. No Room EQ. No tones.

That's how I like it.

If I win the lottery, I will buy 1 for sure.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have two Denon $2000 BD Players. I also have two Panasonic $100 BD players.

I use my Denon BD about once a year. I use my Panasonic about every day.

The Denons look and feel much more high end, though.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I have two Denon $2000 BD Players. I also have two Panasonic $100 BD players.

I use my Denon BD about once a year. I use my Panasonic about every day.

The Denons look and feel much more high end, though.

With 3 BD playes, no wonder you only use the expensive one only once a year I would just mount them in a display curio cabinet to marvel at them.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I have two Denon $2000 BD Players. I also have two Panasonic $100 BD players.

I use my Denon BD about once a year. I use my Panasonic about every day.

The Denons look and feel much more high end, though.

I like having you around, ADTG. In addition to having very similar tastes to mine, your buying habits make me feel so practical by comparison!

 

[haraldo]

I love it. So pure class-A. So analogue. No DSP. No Room EQ. No tones.

That's how I like it.

If I win the lottery, I will buy 1 for sure.

why only one preamp?, why not one for each room?


If I win the lottery my money would definitely go for Swiss gear, it is made like a tank and will never fail, and most of it looks like oooouch....

could be Weiss, Goldmund or Soulution. Probably betters... Even ML

prices?.... Don't even ask, but it's still probably quite good value for money....

if there's a bomb that shatters your neighborhood everything will break, but your Swiss electronics will still be in perfect condition, it's that good

 

[Irvrobinson]

Personally, I think analog line-level pre-amps like the ML are largely obsolete. The stereo pre-amp of the future probably looks a lot more like the Classe CP-800. I also think the ML products are mostly aimed at the Asian market, where this sort of build quality and traditional functionality is treasured a lot more than in the US. So the fact that we find the price shocking is probably not increasing their worry factor.