Mark Levinson No. 23.5 vs new Class D power amps?

[Carlton80@0]

The Scintillas are the crazy impedance speakers. The H2O amp was specifically designed to drive them. These are fairly normal compared to the Scintillas.

 

[Carlton80@0]

I own a pair of the crazy lovely Scintilla and was an early adopter of class D. Had Nuforce 8b, Henry Ho’s H20 and others. Those early offerings with spirited listening would into protection mode when they hit their current limit. IMHO the early designs showed their weakness especially in the reproduction of high frequencies. After having a conversation with a few of the designers/engineers at the time. It was revealed that the main issue was do to rising distortion at higher frequencies with the low impedance load. Contrary to popular belief the bass panel is know where as difficult to drive as the MRT ribbons. Those issues are no longer a problem today. At least this is the case with the current Purifi offerings.

 

[Mnyb]

The ML has the build quality and longevity not made in modern products .

But lack of parts and foremost lack of competence in making repairs and verify the result ! (important ! Even I can exchange brown and crispy parts ... and wing it and it works sort of ?) .

Modern products have a shorter lifecycle and are not meant to be repaired you recycle complete boards .

But after 30 years have not the ML used up much of it's longevity and quality ?

It's a given that sound quality is solved in both products if we compare with Purify or NCx modules .

Where do you live can you get competent help .
For me in Sweden it's a no brainer to get a modern class-D product . I doubt that I can get really qualified help with the ML if I needed it without shipping a heavy amp across the world . A burned class-D amp module i can fix that myself, given that it is a standard module ( not what NAD does which is the worst of both worlds .. ).

However the ML sure looks nice and is a cool thing to own

But if your not very rich buying yesterdays bespoke high end products can be expensive ? For example you can get very exclusive old cars surprisingly cheap top of the line BMW or Mercedes of yesteryears' . until something breaks down ?

 

[Hear Here]

Has anyone done a direct comparison of their Mark Levinson No. 23.5 and a Class D? Or done data specs/measurements on the Mark Levinson No. 23.5?

I've just spotted this thread but have not read the follow-up replies.

I've not owned the ML 23.5, but it dates from around the time I had their excellent 390S CDP.

Much more recently, when I was looking for an amp to replace the SET tube amps I'd been using for the previous 17 years, I home demo'd the ML 5805 integrated. Being a current model, I would certainly expect this new ML to better one that is 30 or so years old, even if the latter is in 100% perfect condition with no deteriorated parts such as capacitors. In my tests, I bought or borrowed a dozen amps of all Classes, but in the end I went for a Class D of very recent design - using Purifi Eigentakt technology. NAD's M33 all-in-one was my choice and no regrets after 4 years of excellent service. Their M23 is a power amp only using the same built-under-license board. Overall, I preferred its sound over the Class AB ML and many other amps in the £3-8K range (list price). It bettered amps from Quad, Sugden, Benchmark, Lyngdorf, Micromega and others, although the Accuphase A36 (Class A) and Gamut D200 Mk III gave it a run for its money.

Purifi is currently considered the top Class D technology, but some Purifi amps are better than others. These are likely based on the cheap Eval(uation) board that Purifi make available for evaluation and DIY purposes. If you want the best Class D, take a look at the top amps from NAD or T+A. There may be others that use something better than the basic Eval board, but it's worth checking before purchase.

 

[ahofer]

A lot of amp sound difference assertions in this thread that seem very unlikely, albeit with some demanding speakers.

Remember folks, high end amps (or bespoke op-amps, etc.) are mostly a waste of your hard-earned money - if you are interested in fidelity. You can get the power and fidelity you need for less than $2K. If you have speakers that don’t go below 4 ohms and efficiency>88, $1k should do it.

I have a NAD c298 (second hand) and a March audio p252. Before that an Adcom and a Bryston. Anything with linear FR, adequate power and low noise and output impedance should be audibly indistinguishable in a level-matched blind test.

Spending more than that on an amp becomes an awful lot like buying high end cables, unless you are pursuing some particular kind of distortion or EQ. Even then, there are cheaper ways to get there.

 

[Theta]

How? Good Class D amps have a nearly unrivalled bass control…

Actualy they do have rivals in class AB amps that have A damping factor of 400 or more. Since I posted a while ago I did buy a class D amplifier for Bass only, the results are very good. It's a Crown XLS Bought for 200€ If it brakes I won't even bother fixing it.

 

[Vigovsky]

In general, Mark Levinson created the Daniel Hertz company in Italy and has been creating
his class D amplifiers based on UcD400 modules for several years. As is known.
It is not cheap, of course:

Maria 350 and Maria 800

danielhertz.com

Regarding the Eval pre-buffer from Bruno Putzeys (Purifi)
I think that this is a simple and good pre-stage on excellent operational amplifiers 2 X OPA1612.
This gives a normal Pre-Gain of 14dB. I use a slightly modified Eval+ with 1ET400A in my VR-03B amplifier

The sound is dense and realistic throughout the entire audio band at any power.
I have attached sine waves again with a resistive load 6Ohm - 20Hz (340W) and 40kHz (233W).
The amplifiers are stable and cool at the same time. In operation for several years.

I periodically listen to some of my balanced audio systems with High-End class AB amplifiers. And I can say that both D (1ET400A) and AB sound great and without distortion. There are small differences and features in the sound, but this is a matter of taste. Each sound is good and meaningful.

 

[Julf]

Again I have the sinking feeling even this forum is becoming contaminated with subjective beliefs and opinions instead of actual facts.