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Levinson 20.5 monos - Time for a Refurb?

I bought my Mark Levinson 20.5 pure class A mono blocks new in 1990. I loved them for their sound and still do. They have been 100% reliable and I have never had them back to the Levinson or my dealer for anything.

However, they are 16 years old now and except for my Magnum Dynalab tuner, they are the only thing I have not replaced in my system.

Being pure class A amps they run pretty hot.

Question is, is it time I should consider having them checked out, refurbished, capacitors and the like replaced, etc?

If so, who should I consider for this work? Levinson? They are not what they used to be when they designed and made these amps, and I'm not sure they are up to the same quality work they did back then or whether I should trust that their parts will be as good as the original. Someone else? But who?

Has anyone been through this or does anyone have any thoughts about this they can share with me?
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herman
2,256 posts
 
http://www.quadesl.com/pdf/cit2_capboard.pdf

If you stick with the old caps it is best to bring the voltage up slowly. You'll need a variac (variable AC) transformer to do this but unless you get a used one at a good price it will cost more than the amp is worth. http://www.iseincstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPRODGROUP&ID=20

You could take a chance and just turn it on.
rwwear
2,867 posts
 
Thanks Hermam,
I have been offered 1200.00 for it as is but I would like to use it in a second system.
herman
2,256 posts
 
oops, I had no idea it was worth that. A new variac is a few hundred. I would recap it if I was going to use it.
psacanli
535 posts
 
If you can find an older Spectral DMA180 it will give you adaquate power & dynamics and will resell easily. It will definitely benefit from a great power cord. Joe has an MIT Oracle AC1 for $850-a steal-and once you have it you probably won't resell it.
jsadurni
210 posts
 
I am using Leak TL12.1 amps that are over 50 years old!
I have changed all signal caps to Mundorf silver-gold with great results, I am using the original Paper in Oil Can cap for the power supply, they are a bit low but sound wonderfull, I was instructed by a lot of "experts" not to touch them! If you are using your amps daily they should be fine, Try to get them measured before sending them off to get fixed!
I would say you will eventually need to change them so just decide which is the best time to do it! If you change them yourself or some technician close to you, you can decide which caps to use...these make a huge diference in sound, Do you want Blackgates, Elna cerafine for the Power supply? Do you want the original (20 year old design) caps for the signal path, will you just let HK put whatever they can get cheap! Do you want to try the latest in caps that add great resolution to your amp like the Mundorf Silver-oil or Silver gold, or the Teflon Vcaps, do you want a softer sound like paper in oil caps? Do you want a more crisp sound like Hovland caps? Are you confused enough already? This is a great hobbie go for it change them and play with the sound you like!!
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