WOULD IT BE DUMB TO BUY A MARK LEVINSON NO 23.5

It is a ’student seeking truth and thinking they found it’ kind of amplifier. (and we are all students)

It is another layer of the onion.

Thus, it is not a perfect amp, it is a step on the stairs upward.

At the same time there is no reason that it should not be purchased and enjoyed. Everyone does it differently and at a different pace.

For some it may be seen as a large enough plateau to have or stage a life cycle upon. That the walls are far enough away that it is not felt to be a box to climb out of, but an open field of dreams.

If one looks with careful enough eyes, and attentive enough mind, then this analogy can be applied to just about anything.

     
     Wow, teo_audio, you should be a philosopher....or a rapper.
      I feel enlightened, am I glowing?

Tim

If I wus a rapper it would have to been about guns, weed, da crib, and bitchez .... but I guess it applies there as well...

It also plays into a bit of data that came clear some years back, regarding intelligence as speed of cognition. That the difference is calculated at a halving of rumination time for every calculated IQ increase of approx 5 points. Which means that the difference between 100 and 200 IQ, is a rumination speed differential of approximately 300,000. 100 to 120 alone, is ~ 16x.

And that this applies to the ear/brain combination just as potently as basic intelligence, as associations can go.

So some move past the given thing fast, and some find a life in there. Wherever and whatever the given there may be.

Thus it is impossible to fault a person for their choices, but I will fault them if there is projected impingement, whether they possess awareness of the impingement or not. It’s all fun and games until someone gets their audio poked out.

eg, someone starts a cable hating thread. And they've been given chances before. Thus it is not just ignorance, but projections and damaging levels of impingement. 

So one walks them off a cliff with no rancor. Just...get it done.

I'll second comments that its a bit sterile sounding, but i'll also second comments that its well made.  And while electrolytic capacitors degrade with age - my experience, having shipped -- and seen the results -- 100s of units is that if you really use top quality parts, and run them well within limits, the problems begin 30 years out - not 15.  Yea, i had some cap failures but in retrospect the problem was usually a modest oversight on my part. Ive frankly had more problems with new Chinese capacitors than with old US and European made ones. Or the quality Japanese brands.  Caveat emptor w/r/t specs.

Now, on to re-capping without schematics.  remove cap. Look at specs.  replace cap.  Who needs a schematic?  yes, they are nice to have to identify critical components - but we're talking preventative replacement of things that go boom - not subtle circuit tweeks.
I'll leave the sonic value judgement to the only one who matters.  You.

@itsjustme, search the forum and web regarding recapping and servicing legacy Levinson amplifiers. It’s not as simple as a part swap, the labour to get at the components is outrageous.  In addition, Levinson masks parts values etc. A lot of very capable service techs refuse to work on Levinson products. Unfortunately, I know this first hand.