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Good upgrade from Levinson 33H's

I have been reading discussions on here and in audio reviews, looking for a good upgrade from my Levinson 33H's. First off, these are the best amps I have heard, but I have not heard many of the new wonder amps discussed on many threads here. I am running all Stealth cable, with the Genesis 4 tower speakers.....so the amp I choose to upgrade to, will be running only my Mids / Tweeters. Some, but not all, that I have interest in are, BAT, Joule, Lamm, MBL,CAT,Atma-sphere, Soulution......generally the usual suspects. Each seems to have it's good and bad points, or rather, supporters and critiques, probably depending on many occassions to what supporting equipment people may be using. I guess the bottom line here for me is, which amps in this list or not, would be a substantial upgrade from my Levinson 33H's.......I don't want a lateral move! To all those that will say.....you have to audition....and what do you like or what are you looking for....yes of course. However, without traveling the continent to audition them all in someone elses system, what should my short list be? Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.
bullot
french_fries
815 posts
 
i also have 33h's and have ALSO wondered what would REALLY be better. i have heard halcro and the new vtl's and would not get them. i have NOT heard dartzeel or goldmund, etc. PROBLEM IS: the levinson's are very transparent imho EVEN THROUGH my von schweikert vr9se's, and do not sound sterile or hard. PERHAPS side by side with pass xa-200.5's? ok, MAYBE there would be a difference worth spending the $$ on. then again, maybe not.
bullot OP
130 posts
 
Thanks for the responses! I have no complaints about the 33H's.......love them! I just don't know how good some of these newer amps are, as I'm unable to do a side by side comparison, or for that matter even listen to them due to my location. I don't want to spend a ton of cash and just get a minor improvement. It's just this upgrade thing!! A person looks at their system and wonders where an improvement can be made, and it brings me to wonder, are there any amps worth saving my hard earned cash for??
chuck
203 posts
 
Bullot,

I have owned the ML 33H and 33's. I liked them very much. They are my second favorite amps. my list.

Solid state

1. Dartzeel
2. Pass Labs XA-160 XA-200
3. Spectral 360 Mk II
4. Goldmund Telos 400 or 600
5. Accuphase A-65

Tube

1. VAC 300.1
2. Atma-Sphere MA 1 MK 3.1
3. Wavac HE-45
4. Lamm 1.2
5. Shindo Labs lafon GM-70
keithr
1,306 posts
 
super high end SS all sounds very similar---so substantial is probably not in the cards.

tubes would be different---not all a sub improvement persay. really up to you.

you might also check out the No. 53 monos or whatever the number is---that might be a worthwhile upgrade.
french_fries
815 posts
 
i would add, in all fairness, that the OLD PASS ALEPH 1.2'S sound incredible. of course they run very HOT, the power switch is in the BACK next to the speaker connectors, which is really dumb. then there's the impedence problem (they don't provide alot of juice below 4 ohms). other than all of that, they sound as good or better than vtl's (my opinion) and obliterate most SS amps i can think of. a pair was recently on sale here, and if i didn't have the levinsons or a pair of rowland 12's sitting in the closet, i would have made an offer.
the new pass xa-.5 amps are undoubtably better, but if you've ever heard the aleph series, you might just overlook their shortcomings with the 1st alblum you play, and buy them. IF you don't mind spending less money of course...
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