I upgraded to the ML-53's from the 33H and they are an improvement both in power delivery, resolution, and do not run as hot. But sound wise they are cut from the same cloth. You should have the 33H's serviced at some point since they were manufactured a very long time ago, and it will cost you $$$$. But they are excellent and have a lot more current delivery than the 150W/CH rating. And they are heavy! Pick them up with a friend to help you. Madrigal hit their peak when these amps were made for audiophiles with demanding speakers (read-Wilson with low impedance curves). Of course the 33's are even better but were hard to manufacture due to high demand (by the super-power freaks). The 300W per channel and a 220V outlet was std. Good luck with that. Of course Boulder still insists that you do that even now... I like the 53's just fine, so no offense to Stereophile Magazine, but I have extensive experience with both amps. You can have your Dartzeel $150,000 amps. Nothing short of a hand-built tube amp with all silver wiring should cost half that much...
The Levinson 33h? Pros and cons?
I was wondering how the 33h holds up against the competition?
I am considering purchasing a pair, but am unsure if they will meet the demands of my Revel Salons. I believe that the 33h will in fact sound better than the Levinson 436 series (they are Levinson's current Reference since the 33s were discontinued), but I'm biamping (maybe triamping if you count the pair of Revel Sub 30s I'm using also)and with the double pair of 436s I never run out of power. There is no current way for me to hear a pair of 33hs in my system or for that matter for me to hear a pair thus the deleimma. See my system for more info.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vaslt&1076767531&read&keyw&zzsgr
I am considering purchasing a pair, but am unsure if they will meet the demands of my Revel Salons. I believe that the 33h will in fact sound better than the Levinson 436 series (they are Levinson's current Reference since the 33s were discontinued), but I'm biamping (maybe triamping if you count the pair of Revel Sub 30s I'm using also)and with the double pair of 436s I never run out of power. There is no current way for me to hear a pair of 33hs in my system or for that matter for me to hear a pair thus the deleimma. See my system for more info.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vaslt&1076767531&read&keyw&zzsgr
- ...
- 16 posts total
porschecab The 33H’s, though lack a bit of power for ’aggressive’ listening periodsYour taking the piss yes?? This amp can arc weld off it’s speaker terminals. Stereophile measuered: 8ohm = 265W 4ohm = 500w 2ohm = 900w "As we don’t have a dummy 1 ohm resistive load capable of sinking the almost 2kW!!!! that the Mark Levinson is presumably capable of putting out into this load, I wasn’t able to check its clipping power into 1 ohms. However, the fractional decibel drop in dBW each time the load is halved suggests that this amplifier behaves as an almost perfect voltage source."—John Atkinson In this load graph of 8ohm 4ohm 2ohm and a simulated speaker load one, that is usually a wavy line that is not flat because the amp can't drive the simulated load without dropping power at certain impedance, in this instance it is dead flat and you can't see it. https://www.stereophile.com/images/archivesart/M33fig1.jpg Unlike many others that can't stay flat and act like a tone control "grey trace". https://www.stereophile.com/images/718BP21fig01.jpg Cheers George |
- 16 posts total