Mark Levinson 432 vs 532 vs 532H

The #532 is the little sister of of the famed #53 , and uses the same technology . Harmon insists there not digital . The #532H is from the old technology . Both sound great to me but the #532 is far superior .

Tmsorosk - Thanks for the insights. But I am a little confused (which is not unusual). It looks like the 532H is a new development for home theater. It is lighter, it is optimized for quick, high peaks (according to ML literature) and does not double down. If it is based on the 432 technology, it looks like they made some significant changes to it.

The 53 is a switching design that uses MOSFETs for its output stages. I do not see any reference to either of those technologies in the No 532 literature. The No 532 looks more like it is a traditional design, updated to be fully differential. Do you have any reference to the No 532 using the 53 technology?

I heard the 53 with the big Revels, but unfortunately it was in their traveling truck. The "accoustics" made it difficult to really evaluate them. I have not heard the No 532.

I have confirmed that the No 532 is an upgrade of the 432 design rather than a scaled down 53. It is fully differential from input to output, which the 432 apparently is not, to my surprise. The 532H is a new design. Without listening, it is probably hard to say whether the 432 or the 532H would work better in a given setup. But, my guess is that the 532H is probably not signficiantly better than the 432 in most cases and the 432 may well beat the 532H is many cases. The No 532 is probably much better than either the 432 or 532H, but at a much higher price. Sounds like I need to find a No 532 to listen to. Starcon - you are a luck man!

Dtc ... Iv'e been using the #431 since new , the little sister to the #432 , ( less power but sweeter sounding ) and recently tried the #532H , the difference was substantial . I'm considering both the #532 and #532H as well as the Classe CTM 600 . Richard at Harmon stated the #532 used the same technology as the #53 , myself I could not say either way .

Tmsorosk - interesting - since my discussion with ML said the No 532 was definitely not the same technology as the 53. Looking at the technical specs, it just seems like the 532 is not using switching technology. My discussion with ML was that the 532H and the 432 were somewhat comparable, but would probably depend on the other components. Beside the technical issue of what technology is in the 532, as always, it may depend on the synergy with the pre and the speakers. I have not found a No 532 to try yet. I did hear a 532H today, but with speakers than I have never heard before, so I cannot make any judgement. I will keep looking. What speakers are you using?