Mark Levinson No: 333 vs. MCintosh MC 352?

I have heard the 333 driving the N802s at a friends house with a 39 player and Transparent cables. The sound was completely dissapointing, no emotion. To me that combo can be summed up as sounding lifeless. I heard the 352 at a dealer running some Dynaudio stand mounts and the sound was much better, I don't know if it was the speaker or the amp, but I have heard the Levinson/B&W/Transparent system a number of times at the same dealer, and it sounded the same there, uninvolving.

Funny you ask because last year I auditioned at length the MC352 and No.335 on a pair of B&W N802s (I owned N804s for a while) with some Tara Lab cables (amps were swapped out on same setup) and I found that the MC352 had a liquid, involving quality with an openness and effortlessness that the Levinson just did not have no matter how hard I tried to hear it. The levinson looks awesome but as far as sound is concerned I must hand it to McIntosh. I spent easily an hour listening to them with a very enthusiastic employee (the store was deserted) and we both agreed the MC352 is just one of the best there is. I have since also auditioned the 383 and found it somewhat flat too (compared to the Classe 151 integrated). I will buy as MC352 as soon as I can afford it. I can't wait to get it!

Ligi is right-352 sound more musical then ml333 without hard edge.

Thanks for all of your opinions. I did go on Audioreview.com and it seems like the MC352 is the winner compared to the ML 333 in sound quality, but the ML 333 looks gorgeous and it is a little hard to back away too.I am trying to convince myself it's the sound that I'm looking for, not the looks of the amp, but I still couldn't make the decision. I really need as much help as possible to choose the right amp between the two and Lev335, I listened ML 335 once at the dealers. It sounds really good, but I can't afford it right now. Thanks.

Come on... how does one compare Mac to Levinson.Buy the Mac!