Mark Levinson 432 vs 532 vs 532H

happy 432 owner here. recently had a chance to hear the 532 and was very impressed. no chance to compare directly with my 432 but the 532 sounded fantastic to my ears. matched with the right gear, i think it would be a fantastic amp to own.

that being said....i love my 432. it's a wonderful sounding amp imho and one i have no intention of parting with any time soon. i'm not a big shooter and operate with a budget. a pre-owned 432 gave me what i wanted without busting the bank (under 4k usd). should i win he lottery anytime soon....the 532 will be considered.

The 532H is obviously built to a price point, made with many cost cutting features. It has power supplies that are about 1/3 the rating of similar power spec. Levinson amps preceding it. I've also noticed in the brochure, what might be a "Levinson" first actually, that Harman doesn't show off the interior with photographs of the power supply design and layout, and for a good reason. It's a half empty box, filled with cost cutting measures. Harman looks to be capitalizing on the Levinson name, with an amp that Madrigal would have marketed as a Proceed for about half of the price. For comparison, the venerable 23.5 was packed full, literally, of the best solid state had to offer at the time, close to 300watts into 8 ohms, with 1258VA, and 72,000mF filter capacitance per channel! It also "doubled down," which the 532H does not. The 23.5 retailed for $5900 in 92', and adjusted for inflation, would put it at about $7630 today. Also, remeber that when Madrigal upped the specs from the 20 series to the 331, 332, and 333, they lowered the price, citing the use of less expensive production techniques. If Harman has any advantage over Madrigal, I would think it would be in the area of production cost. Good as the 532H may sound, it is overpriced at $8500. Owning a Levinson amp, for me at least, has been for more than just the sound. Its for having high fidelity, as well as the confidence that you own a powerful, stable amp, that can drive ANY load, and is never the weak link in the chain. I don't feel the 532H offers this, and that Harman is devaluing the Levinson brand by using the Levinson name for the "H' series. As far as I'm aware, they now have rights to the Proceed name, so why not use it? Greed, perhaps?

Harman (ok...Levinson) doesn't even spec the 532 into 4/2 ohms. That's really a departure for a company with the type of history that ML has. It's also $20K, which is a heckuva jump from the 432 - which looks to have nice build quality, large toroids, etc. I'm not making a judgement on the 532 as I have not heard it, but IMHO if it takes less (expensive) parts to make comparable products as time marches on - great - but the price should be going in the opposite direction.

I don't own a Lenvinson product at the moment but have always admired their older amps. When I saw the specs and pictures of the internals of the 532H the first two things that came to my mind were "Where's The Beef" and "Why is this thing $8k again", especially considering that it isn't a Class D design.

Does Harman have new technology that allows them to use such small components in their product when compared to the majority of the other Class A/B designed Amps?

I say look for an older model with some meat on it's bones otherwise you may need to keep that 532 warranty card close in hand. This of course is just one more opinion in a sea of many opinions.

I considered buying the 532h, but after seeing it with it's cover off I simply couldn't bring myself to close the deal, and ended up with a pair of Parasound JC1's (amazing amplifiers by the way).

I love the 532 but Levinson's prices have really gone off the deep end lately and it's well out of the realm of what I'm willing to pay.

I am still a fan of ML products, but the "gotta have it factor" has waned since it's peak in the late 90's (my opinion).