Cable for my amp.

thx heaps Nsgarch. you certain know your stuff!

well, I have a Hydra 4 (borrowed) sitting in my house and I would do some serious listening and see.

unfortunately, i dont know anyone who owns a EP15A.

Nsgarch:
how much would I expect to pay for a new or near new EP15A???

Sam:
what's your opinion on ML 331 compared to 27.5??? cos I read review that 331 (supposedly) do everything a 27 and 27.5 do and more.

YY, I bought my EP-15A and my SP-15A used for $1075 and $930 respectively (great deals both of them ;--) There are 2 used EPs for sale on the Gon right now. The higher priced one is a newer model which comes with 2 digitally filtered outlets (for your CDP.) The cheaper one could be sent back to the factory for a no-charge upgrade. (my advice: offer $1100 for the cheaper one and send it to Chatsworth CA for the upgrade. It's a light weight unit and won't cost much to ship.) MSRP is around $2500 I think.

Here's an AgoN discussion on the Exactpower units:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1123946553&openfrom&1&4#1

Except for the 33H (still in production) the best amps Mark Levinson has made so far are:

20.5
20.6
23.5
27.5
33

The 20, 23, 27 are good units, more like today's 300 and 400 series. But they don't use teflon PCBs and upgraded components, and just don't have that special sparkle and effortless presentation of the ".5" versions. I use my 23.5 with CLS electrostats, and they sound allllllmost as good as they did with ARC tube amps ;--)
.

YY what powercord do you have with the Hydra? I think the EP15A's are like ~$1400 or higher? Look here at A'gon because I think there is 1 or 2 used? I do not have the budget for these higher end conditioners/regenerators. Personally I like my Hydra and what it does. There is a noticable difference with it in. If you have the Hydra 4 then decide for yourself. The Hydra 2 to me is a little more laid back or softer sounding to my ears. The Hydra 4 was a great match for the 27. I think you will like it. I did for sure.

I have never had a 331 in my system but had a buddies 331.5 which is a factory upgrade ($2000) of the 331. It is suppossed to be 2/3's a 334. It sounded very nice with good detail and dynamics. Just a more refined amp. We compared it to my 29. The .5 was all around better but both had the Levinson house sound. It was not a huge difference but noticable. I would love to have a 334 but that is out of my reach right now.

The 331 will outperform the 27 in my opinion. As far as the 27.5 versus a 331 it is hard to say because I did not have one(331) here for comparison. I have listened to a 331 in another system with similiar speakers I have and it sounded very good. Hell it should but some people say the 27.5 is a better sounding amp than the 300 series ML amps. The 331 looks much better for sure. I think they are gorgeous amps. One of the best looking amps ever IMO. The 27.5 price has been going up in value so I think that speaks for itself. I would be happy with either to tell you the truth but if I had to choose I would say the 27.5. Do a search on the 331 and see what you think. Audioreview.com has lots of reviews on both. I like a SS amp with a tube preamp.

Nsgarch is right on with the Levinson amps :) The .5 series are nice upgrades of the 27 and 23.

I borrowed the Hydra 4 which as a Cooperhead cable with it, and I used a Python Alpha cable (not the Helix version) for my 27.

only a slight difference to my ears compared to my cheapo conditoner. its Monitor Acoustics btw...

its more forward sounding and the upper frequency has the added sparkle. though bass appears more "boomy" which I dont like. maybe i should move my spk further away from the wall. its about 65cm at the mo.

re amp.
so u guys think its not worth upgrading the 27 to 331??? 200W 4 ohms is plenty power for my Cremona auditors. dont need 332 or above.

my plan is to get a 390S and run it directly into the 27 (or 331).

reason being my 26 doesnt have the balanced input!! hence I have a Cardas XLR to RCA plug and use a RCA-lemo cable from CD (fake balanced) into the 26 lemo. then balanced XLR from 26 to 27.

cables are Madrigal HPC. vintage huh?! :)

re the EP15A. I need a 240V version. hence the ones on Audiogon doesnt suit me unfortunately.....

pls gimme input on the comparo on 27 vs 331. need to decide soon!