Potent high end No. 331 power amplifier by Mark Levinson in good condition with slight signs of wear.

Technically in perfect condition.

The '331's build quality is superb, better than I've seen in almost all other audio products. If weight, shielding, and size of heatsinks mean anything, then the No.331 should run much longer and more reliably than the No.27, which already has seen five years of steady, unbroken service in my listening room.

Sound: neutrality & transparency 

Driving the Quad ESL-63s, the No.331 had stiff competition—my well-broken-in No.27 from the same manufacturer. I'd grown accustomed to this amplifier's treble detailing, which brought out the upper range of my Quad ESL-63s. With the No.27 connected to the Quad '63s and the KSA-250 driving the Bag End subwoofers, the overall effect was a natural, sweet, somewhat shallow, but detailed soundstage.

Within a minute after hooking up the new Levinson amplifier to the Quads, any doubts I may have had about how the '331 would fare were put to rest. These initial impressions did not change after hours of listening. The No.331 added new ingredients: greater transparency, greater depth of soundstage, and total neutrality. This made it hard to describe, because the amplifier's sonics were not silvery like the No.27's, nor dark like those of the original Levinson ML-2 or the first No.20s I auditioned in my listening room. Nor did it have the warm midrange of the No.27.5. Determining its character would take much more listening.

Driving either the Quads or Snells, the No.331 produced a wide and deep soundstage, easily the equal of the Krell KSA-250 which used to produce the best soundstage depth in my listening room.. This could be clearly heard on the opening of "Hotel California" on the Eagles' live Hell Freezes Over album (Geffen GEFD-24725). The placement in space of the audience sounds, the acoustic guitars, and the conga drums were all well-defined, giving the impression of a very wide, deep soundstage. The openness and naturalness of the lead vocalist's voice and the great dynamic reserves of the '331, all served to sweep me into the music. Again and again I found myself becoming involved in music that sounded three-dimensional, vibrant, and clear.

I was able to hear a distinct layering of the harp, clarinet, organ, and male and female choirs on Rutter's "The Lord is My Light and My Salvation," the second cut on Reference Recordings' Requiem. The No.331's ability to produce a well-defined soundstage was evident on the LP from the original soundtrack of the motion picture Glory (Virgin 90531-1). The choir spread from wall to wall in the opening cut, "A Call to Arms."

With the No.331 driving the Snell Reference Towers, the midrange was balanced, neutral, and grainless, with none of the forwardness JA had described in his review of the Levinson No.23.5 (Vol.14 No.9). The new Mark Levinson was as smooth in rendering orchestral textures as my well-broken-in No.27. Like the 27, the No.331 delivered a richness of orchestral timbre, especially on woodwinds, that was missing from the Krell KSA-250's presentation.

The No.27 rendered a silvery, sweet quality to cymbals and hi-hats at the finish of Richard Thompson's "Why Must I Plead" (Rumor and Sigh, Capitol CDP 95713 2). The new No.331 played the same selection with more transparency and neutrality. It added clarity and realism to pop vocals, allowing me to hear more of the timbre and harmonics in David Bowie's voice on the Cat People soundtrack (MCA 1498), and Willie Nelson's voice singing "Getting Over You" on his Across the Borderline (Columbia CK 52752) than I had heard before. I particularly enjoyed comparing changes in Don Henley's voice, which was lighter and clearer on the original Hotel California LP (Asylum 7E-1084) than heard on the live CD performance recorded 14 years later, where his voice is rougher, more resonant, and narrower in range.

The No.331 was run in gain-matched comparisons with the Mark Levinson No.27 and Krell KSA-250 amplifiers. The treble response of the Levinson '331 was free of the colorations heard with the other amplifiers. Compared to the KSA-250 and the No.27, the 331 delivered a more neutral, distant-but-layered version of orchestral textures, and recreated the sense of the hall heard during the brass finale of Janácek's Sinfonietta: Finale (Reference RR-65CD, José Serebrier, Czech State Philharmonic). There was no glare or harshness to the trumpets during the peaks, and no congestion or hardness during these orchestral climaxes. Listening to Bruce Yeh's Ebony Concerto (Reference RR-55CD) with the No.331, I was more aware of small treble-range details, such as snares in the drum heads, just behind the clarinet.

The No.331's high-end treble openness remained intact at higher volumes and in my larger listening room, when driving either the Quad panels or the Snell Reference Towers. The acoustic space around the instruments was clearly heard after climaxes, when the sound of cymbals and bells died away during the HDCD-encoded band arrangement of the Chorus Line overture on the Beachcomber album.

To examine the new amplifier's bass response, I used it to drive the massive Snell SUB S-1800 18" bass-reflex subwoofers. The older No.27 amplifier, because its gain exactly matched the new amplifier, drove the Snell Type A Reference towers. For comparison purposes, the same musical selections were played with the (gain-matched) Krell KSA-250 driving the subwoofers.

The No.331 proved to be a formidable bass amplifier. The No.331 sustained the deep thunder of the HDCD-encoded Lay Family Concert Organ and shook the room while playing the John Rutter Anthem "The Lord is My Light and My Salvation" (Joel Martinson, organist; Reference RR-57CD). Besides bass level, the '331 controlled the huge Snell woofer cones well.

These qualities added greatly to the drama in the rewritten opening of the Eagles' "Hotel California" on Hell Freezes Over. A thunderous kick drum, overlaid with conga drums and then some kind of pitched low-bass instrument playing a tonic-dominant line, announces the first appearance of the song's melody: these drums erupted with great power with the No.331-driven subwoofers. The No.331 was able to deliver the most stunning impact from the explosive synthesizer opening of Terry Dorsey's "Ascent" on Time Warp (Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops, Telarc CD-80106) when compared to the No.27, a sign that the new amplifier had generous amounts of bass "slam." It equaled the Krell KSA-250 in capturing the startling, shot-like plucked notes of Abe Laborial's bass, and Randy Edelman's synthesizer during "Something's Wrong," from the soundtrack to My Cousin Vinny (Var;gese Sarabande VSD-5364), with more solidity, weight, and authority than heard with the No.27. The No.331 captured the burning pace generated by the tom-tom strokes and subterranean synthesizer chords on David Bowie's "Putting Out the Fire" cut from Cat People.

The No.331's quickness was also coupled with definition, as heard during comparison with the No.27. Clearly discernible pitch changes in deep bass notes were heard best from the No.331 re-creating Terry Bozzio's drums and Tony Hymas's keyboards on "Behind the Veil" on Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop (Epic EK 44313). The 331 amplifier had excellent bass-range response on sustained deep notes; this was heard clearly on both the Quad/Bag End and the Snell Reference system. But just as important, the amplifier was incredibly dynamic, bringing out the energy and pace in popular music and jazz when driving two very different loudspeaker systems.

The No.331, working as either a midrange-treble or a bass amplifier, was a real tonic for my two very-different speaker systems. The Quad ESL-63s, in particular, really came alive when driven by the new Levinson amplifier. This amplifier's excellent dynamic range and ability to clarify orchestral textures in the upper midrange and treble overcame the Quad's inherent dryness and reticence in this area. The Eagles' "Hotel California," plus the band arrangement of the Chorus Line overture on the HDCD-encoded Beachcomber album (Frederick Fennell, Dallas Wind Symphony, Reference RR-62CD) were totally involving on both loudspeaker systems. I found myself playing these two selections over and over. The thrill, the dynamics, and the electricity were there each time.

Conclusions 

This review of the Mark Levinson No.331 suggests that a superb 100Wpc stereo amplifier can be developed through careful refinements introduced over three product generations. The original No.27 had a sweet, smooth midrange and treble, but lacked bass slam. The No.27.5 added low-frequency extension and dynamic range, but had a more forward midrange, less woofer control, and a shallower soundstage, I felt. The No.331 retains all the assets of the earlier amplifiers, but with a less aggressive midrange, deeper apparent soundstage, and much better woofer control.

But the advances are more than evolutionary. The Mark Levinson No.331 has a neutral, grainless midrange that allows it to develop the soundstaging and depth that I found lacking in the No.27.5. As a result, the No.331 is the best-sounding Mark Levinson dual-monaural amplifier I've heard. Its ability to breathe life into loudspeakers in the form of extended, neutral midrange and highs is very good news for Quad ESL-63 lovers. Never have my Quads sounded better. This mix works well for dynamic loudspeaker systems as well, as shown by the No.331's ability to function superbly as either a subwoofer amplifier or as a midrange/tweeter amplifier in the full-range, bi-amplified Snell Type A Reference System.

The No.331's build quality is up to the highest standard found in high-end products today. This amplifier's sonics, superb parts quality, overkill power supply, reduced price compared with its predecessor, and five-year warranty offer its owner lots of value for the money, and bring a Class A recommendation from me. The Mark Levinson No.331 should be auditioned by anyone in the market for a topflight, solid-state, 100Wpc stereo amplifier.

Potente High End No. 331 Endstufe von Mark Levinson in gutem Zustand mit leichten Gebrauchsspuren.

Technisch in einwandfreiem Zustand.

Weiterführende Informationen:

Die Verarbeitungsqualität des 331 ist hervorragend, besser als bei fast allen anderen Audioprodukten. Wenn Gewicht, Abschirmung und Größe der Kühlkörper eine Rolle spielen, sollte die Nr. 331 viel länger und zuverlässiger laufen als die Nr. 27, die in meinem Hörraum bereits seit fünf Jahren ununterbrochen eingesetzt wird.

Sound: Neutralität & Transparenz

Mit dem Quad ESL-63 hatte die Nr. 331 eine harte Konkurrenz - meine gut eingebrochene Nr. 27 vom selben Hersteller. Ich hatte mich an die Höhenangaben dieses Verstärkers gewöhnt, die den oberen Bereich meines Quad ESL-63s hervorhoben. Mit der Nr. 27, die an den Quad '63s angeschlossen ist, und dem KSA-250, der die Bag End-Subwoofer antreibt, war der Gesamteffekt eine natürliche, süße, etwas flache, aber detaillierte Klangbühne.

Innerhalb einer Minute, nachdem ich den neuen Levinson-Verstärker an die Quads angeschlossen hatte, kamen mir möglicherweise Zweifel, wie es mit der 331 weitergehen würde. Diese anfänglichen Eindrücke änderten sich nach stundenlangem Zuhören nicht. Die Nr. 331 fügte neue Zutaten hinzu: mehr Transparenz, größere Tiefe der Klangbühne und völlige Neutralität. Dies machte es schwer zu beschreiben, da die Beschallung des Verstärkers nicht so silbrig war wie die der Nr. 27 und auch nicht so dunkel wie die des ursprünglichen Levinson ML-2 oder der ersten Nr. 20, die ich in meinem Hörraum vorgesprochen hatte. Es hatte auch nicht den warmen Mittenbereich der Nr. 27,5. Die Bestimmung seines Charakters würde viel mehr Zuhören erfordern.

Mit den Quads oder Snells hat die No.331 eine breite und tiefe Klangbühne erzeugt, die mit der Krell KSA-250 vergleichbar ist, mit der ich die beste Klangbühnentiefe in meinem Hörraum erzielt habe "Hotel California" auf dem Live-Album "Hell Freezes Over" der Eagles (Geffen GEFD-24725). Die Platzierung der Audienzsounds, der Akustikgitarren und der Conga-Drums im Raum war klar definiert und erweckte den Eindruck einer sehr breiten, tiefen Klangbühne. Die Offenheit und Natürlichkeit der Stimme des Sängers und die großen dynamischen Reserven des 331 haben mich alle in die Musik hineingezogen. Immer wieder beschäftigte ich mich mit Musik, die dreidimensional, lebendig und klar klang.

Ich konnte eine deutliche Schichtung von Harfe, Klarinette, Orgel sowie Männer- und Frauenchören in Rutters "Der Herr ist mein Licht und meine Rettung", dem zweiten Schnitt im Requiem von Reference Recordings, hören. Die Fähigkeit der Nr. 331, eine klar definierte Klangbühne zu produzieren, war auf der LP aus dem Original-Soundtrack des Films Glory (Virgin 90531-1) ersichtlich. Der Chor breitete sich im Eröffnungsschnitt "A Call to Arms" von Wand zu Wand aus.

Als die Nr. 331 die Snell Reference Towers ansteuerte, war der Mitteltonbereich ausgeglichen, neutral und kornlos, ohne dass JA die in seiner Überprüfung des Levinson Nr. 23,5 (Band 14, Nr. 9) beschriebene Vorwärtsbewegung gezeigt hätte. Der neue Mark Levinson war so flüssig im Rendern von Orchestertexturen wie meine gut eingespielte Nr. 27. Wie die 27 lieferte die Nr. 331 eine Fülle von orchestralen Klängen, insbesondere auf Holzbläsern, die in der Präsentation der Krell KSA-250 fehlten.

Die Nr. 27 verlieh Becken und Hi-Hats eine silbrig-süße Note im Finish von Richard Thompsons "Why Must I Plead" (Gerücht und Seufzer, Capitol CDP 95713 2). Die neue Nr. 331 spielte die gleiche Auswahl mit mehr Transparenz und Neutralität. Es fügte dem Pop-Gesang Klarheit und Realismus hinzu und erlaubte mir, mehr von der Klangfarbe und Harmonik in David Bowies Stimme auf dem Cat People-Soundtrack (MCA 1498) zu hören, und Willie Nelsons Stimme sang "Getting Over You" auf seiner Across the Borderline (Columbia) CK 52752) als ich vorher gehört hatte. Mir hat es besonders Spaß gemacht, Änderungen in Don Henleys Stimme zu vergleichen, die auf der ursprünglichen LP von Hotel California (Asylum 7E-1084) heller und klarer war als auf der 14 Jahre später aufgenommenen Live-CD, bei der seine Stimme rauer, resonanter und enger ist im Bereich.

Der Nr. 331 wurde in verstärkungsangepassten Vergleichen mit den Verstärkern Mark Levinson Nr. 27 und Krell KSA-250 betrieben. Die Höhenwiedergabe des Levinson '331 war frei von den bei den anderen Verstärkern zu hörenden Färbungen. Verglichen mit dem KSA-250 und dem Nr. 27 lieferte der 331 eine neutralere, distanziertere, aber vielschichtigere Version der Orchestertexturen und stellte den Sinn des Saals wieder her, der beim Brass-Finale von Janáceks Sinfonietta: Finale (Reference RR- 65CD, José Serebrier, Tschechische Staatsphilharmonie). Die Trompeten zeigten während der Spitzen keine Blendung oder Härte und während dieser orchestralen Höhepunkte keine Überlastung oder Härte. Als ich Bruce Yehs Ebenholzkonzert (Referenz RR-55CD) mit der Nr. 331 hörte, bemerkte ich eher kleine Details im Höhenbereich, wie zum Beispiel Schlingen in den Trommelfellen direkt hinter der Klarinette.

Die High-End-Höhenoffenheit des No.331 blieb bei höheren Lautstärken und in meinem größeren Hörraum erhalten, wenn ich entweder die Quad-Panels oder die Snell Reference Towers ansteuerte. Der akustische Raum um die Instrumente war nach dem Höhepunkt deutlich zu hören, als der Klang von Becken und Glocken während der HDCD-codierten Bandanordnung der Chorus Line-Ouvertüre auf dem Beachcomber albu nachließ

Güçlü üst düzey No. 331 güç amplifikatörü Mark Levinson tarafından hafif aşınma belirtileri ile iyi durumda.

Teknik olarak mükemmel durumda.

Daha fazla bilgi:

'331'in yapım kalitesi mükemmel, neredeyse diğer tüm ses ürünlerinde gördüğümden daha iyi. Eğer ağırlık, ekranlama ve soğutucuların boyutu bir şey ifade ediyorsa, No.331, dinleme odamda beş yıl boyunca kesintisiz ve kesintisiz bir hizmet görmüş olan No.27'den çok daha uzun ve güvenilir bir şekilde çalışmalıdır.

Ses: tarafsızlık ve şeffaflık

Quad ESL-63'leri kullanan No.331, aynı üreticiden gelen 27 numaralı iyi bir rekabete sahipti. Quad ESL-63'lerin üst serisini ortaya çıkaran bu amplifikatörün tiz detaylarına alışkındım. Quad '63'lere bağlı No.27 ve Bag End subwoofer'ları kullanan KSA-250 ile genel etki doğal, tatlı, biraz sığ ama ayrıntılı bir ses sahnesiydi.

Yeni Levinson amplifikatörünü Dörtlülere bağladıktan bir dakika sonra, '331'in ücretinin nasıl dinleneceğine dair şüphelerim olabilir. Bu ilk izlenimler saatlerce dinlendikten sonra değişmedi. 313 numaralı yeni içerikler eklendi: daha fazla şeffaflık, daha fazla ses derinliği ve toplam nötrlük. Bu, amplifikatörün seslerinin No.27'ler gibi gümüşi olmadığı gibi, orijinal Levinson ML-2'nin veya dinleme odamda seçtiğim ilk 20'lerinki gibi gümüş olmadığı için tanımlamayı zorlaştırdı. Ayrıca No.27.5'in sıcak orta kademesi de yoktu. Karakterini belirlemek çok daha fazla dinleme gerektirir.

Quad'leri veya Snells'i kullanan No.331, dinleme odamdaki en iyi ses derinliğini üretmek için kullanılan Krell KSA-250'ye eşit olan geniş ve derin bir ses sahnesini üretti. "Hotel California" Eagles'ın canlı Hell Freezes Over albümünde (Geffen GEFD-24725). Seyirci seslerinin, akustik gitarların ve konga davullarının uzayda yerleşimi çok iyi tanımlanmış ve çok geniş, derin bir ses sahnesi izlenimi vermiştir. Baş vokalistin sesinin açıklığı ve doğallığı ile '331'in büyük dinamik rezervleri beni müziğe sürüklemeye hizmet etti. Tekrar tekrar kendimi üç boyutlu, canlı ve net görünen müziğe karıştığını gördüm.

Referans Kayıtlarının Requiem'in ikinci kesimi olan Rutter'in “Lord Benim Işığım ve Kurtuluşum” da arp, klarnet, organ ve erkek ve dişi koroların ayrı bir katmanını duyabiliyordum. No.331'in iyi tanımlanmış bir ses sahnesini üretme yeteneği, LP'de, Glory (Virgin 90531-1) adlı sinema filmi orijinal film müziğinden anlaşıldı. Koro, açılışta "Silahlara Çağrı" şeklinde duvardan duvara yayıldı.

313 numaralı Snell Referans Kuleleri'ni kullanırken orta kademe dengeli, nötr ve renksizdi, JA'nın Levinson No.23.5 (Cilt 14 No.9) incelemesinde tarif ettiği hiçbir ileri doğruluk yoktu. Yeni Mark Levinson, orkestra dokularını sergilemede 27. sırada yer aldığım kadar pürüzsüzdü. 31 gibi, No.331, Krell KSA-250'nin sunumunda eksik olan özellikle ahşap rüzgarlarında orkestra tını zenginliği verdi.

No.27, Richard Thompson'un "Neden Gerekirim?" (Söylentiler ve İç Çekimler, Capitol CDP 95713 2) bitiminde ziller ve hi-şapkalara gümüş rengi, tatlı bir kalite kazandırdı. Yeni No.331 aynı seçimi daha fazla şeffaflık ve tarafsızlıkla oynadı. Pop vokallerine netlik ve gerçekçilik ekledi, David Bowie'nin Cat People film müziğindeki sesindeki (MCA 1498) tını ve harmoniklerin daha fazlasını duymamı sağladı ve Willie Nelson'ın sesli çizgisini Across the Borderline'da (Columbia) CK 52752) daha önce duyduğumdan daha fazla. Don Hotel'in orijinal Hotel California LP'de (Asylum 7E-1084) sesindeki değişiklikleri 14 yıl sonra kaydedilen, sesinin daha kaba, daha rezonant ve daha dar olduğu canlı CD performansında duyduğumdan karşılaştırmaktan özellikle keyif aldım. aralık içinde.

No.331, Mark Levinson No.27 ve Krell KSA-250 amplifikatörleri ile kazanç uyumlu karşılaştırmalarda gerçekleştirildi. Levinson '331'in tiz cevabı, diğer amplifikatörler ile duyulan renklerden arınmıştı. KSA-250 ve No.27 ile karşılaştırıldığında, 331 orkestra dokularının daha nötr, uzak ama katmanlı bir versiyonunu verdi ve Janácek Sinfonietta'nın pirinç finali sırasında duyulan salon hissini yeniden yarattı: Referans RR- 65CD, José Serebrier, Çek Devlet Filarmoni). Zirveler sırasında trompetlere parlama veya sertlik ve bu orkestra zirveleri sırasında tıkanıklık veya sertlik yoktu. No.331 ile Bruce Yeh'in Abanoz Konçertosu'nu (Referans RR-55CD) dinlerken, klarnetin hemen arkasında, davul başlıklarındaki tuzaklar gibi küçük tiz aralığı ayrıntılarının daha farkındaydım.

No.331'in üst düzey tiz açıklığı, Dörtlü panelleri veya Snell Referans Kulelerini kullanırken yüksek ses seviyelerinde ve daha geniş dinleme odamda sağlam kaldı. Enstrümanların etrafındaki akustik boşluk, Beachcomber albu üzerindeki Koro Hattı üst sınırının HDCD kodlu bant düzenlemesi sırasında ziller ve çanların sesinin öldüğü doruk noktalarından sonra açıkça duyuldu.