Amps that can Rival A Levinson No. 332 around 3K?

I would think Jeff Roland Models 6,8t,and 9t would be worth looking into.

Jeffb28451,

"I believe they are of an age where a recap/rebuild is due, if it hasn't already been done."

Why, is Mark Levinson building their amps with old parts?

No. The 33x series had a well-known issue of capacitors failing. Per my discussion with the repair techs, the design was driving the original caps hard. They had switched suppliers and the new caps were supposed to be more robust. The caps typically fail after about 5 years, but many owners had no issues. And others, like me, had mote than their shares. The new caps did sound better though.

FrankC

If the 332 has been recapped I would go for it. Great amp. The 334 is another good one. If I were to get a Pass amp I would try the 250.5 and not the 250. The 250 to my ears was very detailed and fatiguing in the midrange. Very good bass I must admit.

I have owned several ML amps and also the commonly recommended Pass amps (by others on this thread). Personally, I much prefer the Levinson amps! I have owned the 331.5 and now a 334. I have never had any issues with either one and the 334 is powerful enough to drive any of the speakers I presently own (Wilson W/P, Thiel CS6, Gemme Audio, Magnepans) in a medium sized room to more than satisfying levels.

Should you ever need service, you can have caps replaced for a fraction of the cost charged by Harmon/Levinson/whoever is now owning them. Typically about $500 will re-cap the entire amp with better sounding, performing and reliable caps.

I would recommend considering a 334/6 or the 43X series.

I have owned 3 Pass Labs amps 150, 150.5, Aleph 5 and recognize their strengths, but was never that crazy about any of them in comparison to other amps. I prefer all class A (which the Aleph 5 offered - but not enough total power). I find the Pass amps when reaching into Class B really suffer (150(.5)/250(.5)/350(.5)) and no longer perform to the levels that are acceptable to me. Though when you get to the 350.5 you have a lot more room to operate in Class A before the SQ drops off.

By your (OP's) comments on alternative ML amps being the 333, 335, 336 my question is what type of speaker/room size he needs to address. You can get the 334 for right around your $3K level and it sounds better than the 333 (though without as much power).