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Help Levinson 27.5, 331 or Plinius SA100?

I'm looking at these amps for my system of Sonic Frontiers SFL-2, SFT-1 transport, Theta Pro Basic IIIa, Vandersteen 2Ce SIgnatures.

Since I listen to complex orchestral music, as well as jazz & vocals, I want an amp with a big, open, pinpoint soundstage that separates individual instruments well. But I also want to hear each instrument as an individual entity, with bloom and dimension. I dislike sibilance or brightness, but don't want a rolled-off sound either.

I want too much, right?

Reading reviews on Audioreview.com, each of these amps received widespread praise.  Some loved the older Levinsons, such as the 27.5 & 23.5, and criticized the newer (331-336) models as disjointed or rolled off or unreliable.

A number of 331-336 owners loved the pieces to death.

Most loved the Plinius.

I want to get to the bottom line on these pieces.  Can someone help?
kevziek
jvogt
212 posts
 
I've owned a #23 and now have a 27.5 It's an excellent
amp, with a musical midrange, extended clean high end
and solid bass. Soundstaging and imaging are great.

I'd buy it again in a minute.
lev335
220 posts
 
hello, The 27.5 is a very good amp but technology has changed and Levinson amps a better now than ever before.If you can swing the cash I would tell you to buy a 334 and you will NEVER need or want another amp again. I had a 331 and a 335 I just sold my 335 and I almost cried doing it and now I own a krell fpb 200c great amp. BUT it doesnt have the seperation between musicians as the Levinson did. Also the Levinson has a soundstage that none of the above mentioned amps can duplicate. If you like send me a private email and I will give you my number and I can exsplain in detail what I mean best of luck Dan
mkrebs
2 posts
 
I've had Vandy 2Ci's, 3's, and now 3 Signatures in my system over the last 12 years and the only component that hasn't changed in all this time is my Levinson #27. I like my #27 for that very thing -- I think it does a great job of seperating the individual instruments on the stage. I just recently upgraded my preamp to a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 (also making the switch from SS to tubes). This opened up the soundstage even more and provides just enough of that tube "sweetness" so the music is not dry and analytical, while the #27 still gives me the great tight powerful bass. As a matter-of-fact, I like this combination so well, I just bought a second #27 to bi-amp with.
ulf's avatar
ulf
103 posts
 
I have tried the ML 331 in may high resloution system w Muse CDP and Muse pre and Audío Artistry Dvorak speakers. The ML was OK but not nearly as good as the Rowland model 2. The Rowland has a more realistic warm alost tubelike sound without losing out in details and soundstage and dynamics. The Rowland is used about 2500USD and makes a fantastic match w Muse 3 pre.
cablues
23 posts
 
I sold my 27.5, which was an excellent amp, and bought a 334. The 334 is a much better amp, bass, mids, highs and soundstage is outstanding. I would agree 100% with LEV335, the 334 is a great amp that will keep you engaged for a long time.
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