i wouldn't be to worried about spending large amounts of money to repair ML gear . I've had a half dozen of there components over the last ten or so years and only had one break down that was do to my own dofessness , my local ML dealer fixed the amp for $120. ML did out source repairs for a few years but went back to doing repairs them selves some time ago .
As far as new Levinson digital gear being Oppo in disguise , thats just more BS from people that believe anything they hear . Take the top off a ML #512 or any ML digital product and see if there is anything at all that resembles an Oppo . Many folks confuse Levinson with Lexicon junk because it is owned by the same corporation , if you look closely at the internals and study the spec's of the two you will see there is no resemblance .
As far as new Levinson digital gear being Oppo in disguise , thats just more BS from people that believe anything they hear . Take the top off a ML #512 or any ML digital product and see if there is anything at all that resembles an Oppo . Many folks confuse Levinson with Lexicon junk because it is owned by the same corporation , if you look closely at the internals and study the spec's of the two you will see there is no resemblance .