Info on Levinson 390S????

The Analog Devices 1853 DAC in the 390S is one-fifth the price (per channel) of the Burr Brown 1704-K in the 360 and 360S. Of course, cheaper is not necessarily inferior, but it is interesting fact.

I happened to hear this player a few weeks ago at Audio Outlet in Mount Kisco, while I was principally listening to some amplifiers. I believe it upsamples (I'm not talking just about oversampling, but using some kind of filters, etc. like the Purcell), and it was worlds better-sounding than the old 39, which always sounded comparatively sterile and thin to me. This unit had some harmonic richness and dynamics. A nice piece. Not sure how it compares to the separates, but a pleasant surprise.

I observed the same sterile and thin sound from the Levinson No.39 vs the Cary 306/200 which by the way, uses 8 Burr-Brown 1704 DAC's vs the less expensive Analog Devices 1853's in the Levinson No.390s. I believe the new Pacific Microsonics PMD-200 digital filter also contributes to the very pleasing and musical sound from the Cary. This filter does double-duty for HDCD as well as regular CD filtering. In the past, Cary used the PMD-100 for HDCD and a Burr-Brown DF1704 filter for regular CD playback.

The Levinson No.390s was not available for auditioning when I chose the Cary over the No.39 but with dealer discounting, the new Cary 306/200 was only slightly more expensive than a USED No.39 that didn't sound as nice. I'd love to audition the new No.390s but the local dealer doesn't have one yet.