Mark Levinson No: 333 vs. MCintosh MC 352?

You are right I did find I liked the 352 better than the 500. The dealer recommended the 352 over it also. Really we are talking about all very good amps here though.

The reason people find the MC-352 to sound better than the MC-500 is the design and configuration of the 352 is better than that of the older 500. The 352 truly sounds better than the 500, but the 602 blows the 352 out of the water.
I better, it is substantially more money. I have owned the MC-500 and went to the 352 and for some time used them to push a pair of Vertias 2.8's, B&W 801II, and recently the 802N's. The 352 is a fabulous amp, AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT have 85-86db speakers. At loud levels (for which I prefer)
it doesn't have the capabilities to push them. There is a set of monoblocks that will sound MUCH better than the 352 for about 1/2 the price of the 352, in used $'s. The older (and very ugly, might I add) Carver Silver 7t's. Ugly, but LOADS of power, headroom, bottom and top end! Very detailed, and if not open the to the nakes eyes, one of the BEST valued amps available at ANY level! For what it is worth, I have to say, I also bought a Citation 7.1 and BIAMPED the 802N's, and THAT sounded better then the 352!

IMHO

Dan

You can also mono the 352 to greatly increase its power. I use mine in a biamp situation with the Mac 2102 tube amp on my VMPS RM 40's.

And Mac does not promote update after update. With Mac you get unsurpassed resale too and you know which rev. it is.

I found a guy in the area with the ML 333 for sale. I went to his house to audition the amp. He has the Revel Studio, along with the ML 38 preamp and Sony ES cd player, I don't know the model. The sound was very good, big soundstage, good low end extension, smooth midrange, and warm sound, very smooth on the high also, very musical and clean sound. Overall the sound of this amp is really good and he is selling for $3700 with 1 year left on the warranty. According to the responses, the MC 352 is the better amp to buy and I will wait until one of the local dealers has one in to try it out. I will post with my decision. Thanks everyone.