Mark Levinson 27.5 or 331 power amp?

I agree with Cip. I had a 27 and a 333. I loved the 27 and thought, of course, a newer, more powerful Levinson would be better. I was disappointed. The 27 is very warm and musical while the 333 was cold and analytical. Though I now use tube monos, I haven't been able to bring myself to sell the 27 because it is a terrific solid state amp. I have a friend who has a 27.5, but upgraded to a 23.5, which has the same character. If you're looking for a solid state amp at a reasonable (audiophile reasonable!) price, you can't go wrong with this series. I would assume the 331 has the same character as the 333.

I never heard the 331, but I also have the 27.5 and I love it, I’ve bought it new back in 95’ I wanted to pick up a 2nd 27.5 and try to bridge the two. But haven’t made up my mind. I don’t know if it’s worth it, or should I just save up and buy the 436 mono blocks. Any comments on this would help.

Hello, I have a 332 for a few years, it's powerful and more hi-fi but not beefy and warm. If you have interest in this series, I think the entry model is 332 not 331 of lower wattage.

I owned a No. 27 and a 27.5 and currently use a 23.5. I thought the 27.5 was an improvement over the 27, especially in the bass department. I upgraded to the 23.5 simply because my speakers benefit from the extra power. I think your money may be better spent on the older model amp which you should be able to find for under $2000 on the Audiogon.

Good luck!

But Mstram are you saying that the 23.5 and 27.5 are about the same as far as warmth and bass go, and you wouldn't upgrade to the 300 series? Also If you did upgrade to which levinson would up grade to?