Mark Levinson 333.5 vs Emotiva XPR-1 Monoblocks

I have intimate experience with both the Emotiva XPR-1 and XPA-1 (Gen 1) as well as XPA-1L (Class A 30 watts). 

I took a quick look at the Levison 333.5 amps and I will say that the Levisons will contain components (caps, resistors, etc.) that are far superior that anything Emotiva will have.  That being said, Levinson will have its own sonic signature that you may or may not like.  The Emotiva products are awesome in the fact that the company charter is to take a set of low cost components and design the best product they can with them, then take out the dealer markup and sell at a very low price (for what you are getting).  It may or may not outperform other amps and combinations.

The XPR-1 is an excellent amp for the money.  That being said, it is a tad soft and just a tad cold out of the box.  Replacing the stock fuses with Isoclean fuses tightened up the sound and made the transient responses quicker.  It also warmed up the sound as well.  Please be aware that the XPR fuse holders are not designed well.  They are very tightly conformed to 31.8mm length and they are not very strong in holding the fuse.  The edges of the fuses may have to be sanded/grinded a bit because 32mm length is too long and will not fit properly.  If you have the DIY skills for this, the XPR is an awesome choice.  I do not know how it compares to Levinson, though.

The XPA-1 is also a great amp.  It doesn't have the softness issue of the XPR, but it can be a bit bright.  Fuse replacements fix this as well (they use 20mm fuses, so sizing is not an issue).

The XPA-1L and XPA-1 Gen 2 with the Class A switch fix a lot of problems that come with the solid-stateness of these amps (especially if your source/preamp equipment is very solid-state sounding).  It makes the overall sound more smooth and natural.  However, I would not recommend buying these if you are not planning to run them in Class A mode.  The Emotiva amps do not have a proper circuit for the non-Class A mode and there is crossover distortion that may come across as being bright in the highs.  The smaller XPA-1L is nice in Class A mode, but does not have the brute force of the higher power amps and you will not get as much bass / midbass strength.

Hello all. Although this is a very old thread, I stumbled across it, and could not resist to add my two cents. As many have pointed out above, in the first place, there really is no comparison in the build quality, sound and performance, between the two amplifiers. Yes, both big and heavy, both look really good on paper, and that is where it ends. It is often frustrating when I read so many posts from people comparing product A vs B, and they never heard the second one, or Both. This is quite the sport, where so called "experts" pass on their opinions for an amplifier they never heard.

I know how I felt when I bought home my Mark Levinson 335 and hooked it up to my Mezzo Utopias, then switched to my Dynaudio Contour 3.4's. My mouth dropped, and I immediately started listening to dozens of CD's to take it all in. And I did not replace an Emotiva product. I swapped out a Conrad Johnson tube amp, and a Krell KS300S. Both insanely good amps, yet the ML just took my breath away. Don't get me wrong, The CJ and the Krell amps are phenomenal, in every sense of the word. But the topic of discussion is The Mark 335 vs the Emotiva monoblocks. For any of the commentators with "any" negative remarks about the Mark, I would first ask, "have you ever listened to this amplifier, that you are passing judgement and comparison ?" Willing to bet 10 cents to the dollar, that the answer is NO.

This seems to be quite the trend in the audio trade. You get people that have never seen or heard a piece of equipment, critiquing and comparing it against something else. How often does somebody with a limited budget, buy a 2k amp, which happens to be twice as expensive as their last amp, and is blown away by the quality and performance ? Now that they are quite proud of themselves, they have become the expert, and are ready to down play the quality/capability of a 10k amp, which they never heard, and/or cannot afford to buy. Then, you have people reading these notes, passing them on, and believing the non sense. 

To sum this up, my friend and associate owns these Emotiva monoblocks, and is quite proud of them. Powerful and clean as could be. But he spends quite a bit of time at my house, listening to my Mark Levinson. Actually, we both do, as I rarely ever go and listen to his gear. But, he was able to buy his entire system, for under 12k. That is about 1/4 of the price of my system. The one we compare to. The moral of the story, is that you get what you pay for. Not to knock the Emotiva amp, or any other product. But if you are going to make a bold comparison, and judge against such an incredible piece of gear, as the Mark Levinson 335 or 33- anything, just make sure you get your story straight. Like somebody on this tread mentioned, don't compare a KIA to a Rolls Royce. It just isn't credible.