Mark Levinson ML436

Yes i had a problem with my ML 431 which i owned for 5 years , it could easily have been rissen because i had a melted head fuse (not correctly placed by the electricity company) which gave me serious voltage fluctuations .
The dutch importer / Mark levinson handled it professionally and replaced a complete section with a new one (guarantee period), besides from that it was absolutely fussfree and a pleasure to operate and i still mis those fronts and red standby lights , just look inside one , the build quality is formidable , i only heard of the earlier 3 series that they sometimes had to have their powersupply caps renewed.
I will probably buy back some 436 amps one day, to me it is still the /one of the nicest SS i ve heard ,despite all the newcomers on the market

Primare cd31,

I wouldn't characterize the problems as a QC issue. Rather, if you should actually need service, then things can get a little dicey.

I haven't heard enough of the Parasound gear to make a good comparison with Levinson (or anything else for that matter).

I have a pair of 436 driving 'elderly B&W DM6 speakers.  The only finickiness I have encountered is they really like having sources (seen through the MLAS 3236S preamp) turned on when selected.  When they're not, the nearest amp 'thinks' there's a fault and shuts down (the farthest amp is triggered 'on' by the nearest one).  So you have to (essentially) reboot the amp.  Otherwise, they do what is expected of them, while eating a fair bit of electricity (even when asleep).

I have not heard the Parasound gear, but Curl's reputation is well-deserved.

An addendum:  one of the pair now persists in finding a "mains fault", after behaving very nicely for 2 years.  Changing to a different circuit?  Same problem.

So I see that the nearest authorized repair can be gotten in Austin,Texas or Syracuse, NY or NYC.  A shop in LA professes to be authorized, but all of these are hundreds of miles away.  I have written to dealers and others who do electronic service within reach, and so far, nothing. 

I guess I could grit my teeth and send the amp away, but therein lies another problem:  I bought 'em both used, and neither came with "official" shipping cartons.  Levinson once was willing to sell such a carton for <gasp> ~$600, but no longer. 

So the best course now appears to have a crate built (the thing weighs 85#), to buy robust cardboard cartons and a ton of packing peanuts ... or to write it off and buy another. <grumble, grumble>

 

I got lucky and found a Chicago shop (140 miles away) that'd service it..  Apparently a resistor failed & shorted other things (better report later) - about $2,000 worth of parts & labor.