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Mark Levinson transports


Hi Folks:

I am not a fan of any equipment that this company makes (build quality excellent - sound not to my liking), with one exception. The 390S cd player. Even saying that I still won't buy it. Too neutral and not quite as "rhythmic" and "energetic" as a stand alone player in my comparison with other things. Yet it's capability of detail retrival in recordings, coupled with a very large soundstage, makes it astonishlingly good.

The argument about whether an outside transport really makes a difference versus a quality one box solution will always go on. What hasn't changed in my sound preference has been dacs by Musical Fidelity. So my question is whether you feel the "neutrality" of the Levinson transports such as the 31.5 and 37, would actually be a good match with another companies processor. I used to think that the dac was about 90% of the equation. A demo from Audio-Note earlier this year convinced me otherwise.

I am also wondering how the 31.5 and 37 match in terms of performance with the 390S in transport mode?

Thank you for reading.

danhirsh
bluebull
269 posts
 
I use ML 37 / 36s combo(bought used,excellent value for money)Very Good CD player.Well balanced ,good weight,huge soundstage,detailed,easy to live with and neutral.
I wont buy the 390s new,to expensive.
Transport more important than DAC,Say 70/30 roughly.
Also Transport gives the detail,DAC the Character.
I like Neutral CDP and speakers with the emotion from the amp.Reconsider ML CD players and buy used if you can.
Look for 31.5,31,37 with 36,36s,360s,30.5,30.6 or 39 CD player.
Good Luck
french_fries
815 posts
 
my ml-37 had to recently be repaired after several years of
very light use- non-smoker, always handled cds carefully, etc. $900 plus freight. do i still love it? yes, but it was supposed to be so overbuilt, etc. which it obviously is not.
i see used #37's going for under $2k here and it makes me a little queasy. as for the 31.5, harmon tells me that if you need to repair one, they may not have the parts for this admittedly gorgeous transport. i wish cdp's in general would
be more robust- a good turntable (excluding the stylus) could conceivably last for decades. i like the 10-year rule myself, otherwise i think a company ought to be publically spanked.
mikej
172 posts
 
Hi,
I've compared the No. 31.5, 37 and 39cdp in my system with my Theta DAC. There is a definite difference between them and even my Theta Carmen II DVD Transport. Of all, the cdp was the worst. The 31.5 was more analytical and allowed me to hear how the recording engineers put the discu together, but the 37 let me really enjoy the music. That's why I bought it. It's the best I've heard so far. Highly recommended.
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