Today’s Mark Levinson brand of electronics traces it lineage back to 1972 when Mark Levinson (the man) founded Mark Levinson Audio Systems (MLAS). The company’s first product, the JC-1 preamp (named after its designer, the great John Curl), jump-started the entire American high-end renaissance in the early-to-mid 1970s. Along with Audio Research and Magnepan, MLAS paved the way for the creativity and innovation in high-performance audio design that continues more than thirty years later.

Unlike those two other pioneers of the American high end, which to this day are owned and operated by their respective founders, the Mark Levinson brand has been produced under a succession of corporate umbrellas. Founder Mark Levinson left the company in the early 1980s to start Cello. Madrigal Audio Laboratories, the parent company that owned the brand for much of its existence (1984 to 1995), sold part of the company to the giant Harman International in 1993. (By chance, I was at the factory on a tour the day the announcement was made to the employees.) The link between Madrigal and Harman was no accident; Madrigal CEO Sandy Berlin had been Sidney Harman’s right-hand man during the decades that Harman became a behemoth by buying smaller audio companies. Madrigal continued to operate independently until 1995 when Harman bought the remaining interest in the company. The Mark Levinson brand is now part of the Harman Specialty Group, which comprises Mark Levinson, Lexicon, and Revel.

Perhaps the biggest shakeup in the company’s history occurred in October, 2003, when Harman closed Madrigal’s venerable Middletown, Connecticut, factory and moved all production to the Lexicon factory in Massachusetts. This move took dealers and customers by surprise, and resulted in a complete cessation of production for several months. Some products were out of production for more than a year as the new factory ramped up. By mid-2005, however, the company was back in full swing.

The question on everyone’s mind was whether the Mark Levinson products made in the new factory were true to the original intent of its founders, as well as to the engineers and product-development managers who made the brand iconic during the 1980s and 1990s.

Which brings us to the subject of this review, the Mark Levinson No.326S preamplifier and No.432 power amplifier. My aim is to not only evaluate these products in and of themselves, but to discover whether the traditional Mark Levinson design and build-quality, meticulous attention to every detail (down to the shipping boxes), and distinctive sonic signature are embodied in the new products. Has this venerable marque become merely a boutique brand under Harman? Or does Harman’s financial stability provide a platform for a new era in creativity and innovation that is true to the brand’s great legacy?

This project is of particular interest to me; I lived with and reviewed a number of Mark Levinson products starting in the late 1980s and became quite familiar with their designs and sonic signature, as well as with the company ethos. Madrigal Audio Laboratories was second to none in explaining to the press the intricacies of its products, the meticulousness with which it built its components, and the passion that drove new development.

The $10,000 No.326S is a single-chassis preamp based on the highly acclaimed No.32 Reference preamplifier, a $15,950 two-box unit introduced in 1999. The No.32 was, astonishingly, the first preamplifier to which the then-27-year-old company applied the designation “Reference.” Unlike other audio companies that use the term for marketing purposes, Mark Levinson reserved that special word for products that embodied the company’s best possible effort. Levinson Reference gear served as an internal benchmark for what could be done in a product category, and as an ideal to which to aspire in subsequent, less-costly designs. Levinson had introduced Reference power amplifiers, digital processors, and transports, but never a preamplifier until the No.32.

The No.326S’s chassis is smaller than that of most components, but the styling cues (curved front panel, matte aluminum buttons, red LED display) are unmistakably Mark Levinson. Interesting features include the ability to customize the unit by naming each input, deactivating unused inputs, adjusting the gain-offset of each input, and assigning the record-out jacks to an input. A unity-gain bypass mode (called “SSP” for surround-sound processor) allows the No.326S to be used with a home-theater controller. The controller’s left and right outputs feed one of the 326S’s line inputs. With the 326S in SSP mode, it’s as though the preamp isn’t in the signal path. This connection method, which I use in my system, allows you to have a two-channel signal path completely separate and uncorrupted by a surround-sound system. In a nice touch, switching inputs or absolute polarity causes the volume to quickly ramp down before switching, and then ramp up to the previous level, preventing pops or other noises from reaching your loudspeakers. Optional phono boards ($1400) convert the No.326S from a linestage to a full-function preamplifier.

The 326S’s fundamental design is dual-mono, with the left and right audio channels physically separated in the chassis and powered from completely separate supplies. Only the AC power cord is shared between channels. The internal topology is fully balanced, which requires that an unbalanced input signal be converted to balanced by a phase splitter at the input. A differential amplifier at the output converts balanced signals back to unbalanced. This topology adds additional circuitry to the signal path for unbalanced signals. The upside is that balanced signals remain balanced from input to output. Note that a truly balanced preamplifier, such as the No.326S, employs four signal paths (+/– left, +/– right) and four volume-control elements rather than two.

The No.326S’s volume control is a work of art. Identical in design and execution to that developed for the No.32 Reference, it is a stepped attenuator using a discrete-resistor array. The front-panel volume knob’s motion is converted into digital data which then engages the resistor network to achieve the desired attenuation. Volume can be adjusted in 1dB increments up to 23dB, and 0.1dB increments above 23dB. Levinson introduced the switched-resistor volume control in the No.38 preamplifier, but that unit employed an MDAC (multiplying digital-to-analog-converter), an IC that provided digital control over analog signals. The No.326S’s volume control is significantly more sophisticated, employing discrete resistors rather than resistive elements in an IC. Advantages of a switched-resistor network over a traditional volume control are that the audio signal is never subjected to the wiper and resistive element in a potentiometer, and that high precision can be achieved between the left and right channel gain. Even more important in a fully balanced preamplifier, perfect gain matching is possible between the + and – phases of the balanced signal. From a user’s point of view, the switched-resistor network and front-panel volume display allow precise level setting and matching—a feature of even more utility to a reviewer.

The No.326S’s circuit boards are made from Arlon, a material developed for circuit boards used in microwave and radar applications. It reportedly has ideal properties for audio, including low dielectric loss and exceptionally low conduction between traces. Because Arlon is extremely expensive it is reserved for Mark Levinson’s more costly products.

The remote control is a beautifully made oval with nice button layout and enough functions to be useful without becoming cluttered. The owner’s manual is also superb. The parts and build-quality are all comparable to the standards set previously by Mark Levinson products. I have, however, two very small nits to pick. The first is that the No.326S’s front-panel power button is a different size, color, and material than all the other front-panel buttons. Given that the No.326S is meant to be left in standby mode, the power button could have been mounted on the rear panel. The second is that the remote control’s battery-access panel sticks out slightly, disrupting the remote’s continuous curve on the back. These are admittedly minor issues, but the company is famous for being maniacal about such details.

Looking next at the No.432, the power amplifier continues a trend started about ten years ago by Madrigal to make Mark Levinson amplifiers more installation-friendly. Among these measures are internal heat sinks, rack-mounting capability, and the ability to integrate the amplifier into a system with control and communication ports.

The No.432 shares the circuit topology of the company’s flagship No.33H monoblocks. The unit features a massive power supply with separate toroidal transformers for each channel. Indeed, the No.432 is rated at 400Wpc into 8 ohms, and can double that figure into 4 ohms. Any amplifier that doubles its output power as the load impedance is halved must have a massive power supply, a robust output stage, and serious heatsinks. High-level signals are routed through the amplifier on large buss bars rather than via wiring. The DC-servo’d input and driver stages are fully balanced. As with the No.326S, the power amplifier employs Arlon circuit boards.

I started the evaluations by inserting the No.432 power amplifier into my reference system and immediately recognized the familiar Mark Levinson presentation. That sound is characterized by an extremely sophisticated, cool, and polite rendering that doesn’t try to impress by hi-fi fireworks. Instead, the No.432 presented a finely woven fabric of musical subtleties that invited me into the music. Although laid-back, the No.432 had tremendous resolving power, but in a much more subtle way than that of most power amplifiers. The sound had an easy-going and relaxed quality that fostered an immediate involvement in the performance. To draw an analogy with pianists, the No.432 was like Bill Evans; no flash, but a wealth of subtlety and expression if you take the time to listen.

The No.432 presented a wonderful impression of space, depth, and dimensionality. This was one of the amplifier’s defining—and best—qualities. The overall perspective was characteristically Mark Levinson—that is, with a feeling of sitting a little farther back in the hall. The soundstage was beautifully rendered, with a tremendous sense of size, air, and bloom. The soundstage had the unusual (unusual in an audio component, not in live music) attribute of a billowy quality at the edges that made the space more like the presentation of live music and less like an audio system’s reproduction of a soundstage. It was as though the soundstage didn’t abruptly end, but extended well beyond the boundaries of my listening room. The No.432 managed to sound simultaneously diffuse and focused, with an overall sense of spaciousness, precisely defined images, and layers of depth between instruments. It was a combination I found extremely engaging.

Although it was polite, subtle, and sophisticated in the midrange and treble, those qualities didn’t prevent the No.432 from delivering a rock-solid, tight, and extremely dynamic bottom end. This amplifier can rock when asked. Roscoe Beck’s outstanding bass work on Robben Ford and the Blue Line’s Handful of Blues had terrific punch and drive, laying the foundation for Ford’s searing guitar work. Timpani whacks had the appropriate measures of depth, suddenness of attack, and freedom from strain. With 800Wpc on tap into 4 ohms, the No.432 isn’t likely to run out of power even when driving the most difficult load. I never heard a softening of the bass, a reduction in bottom-end dynamics, or a congealing of the soundstage—all characteristics of an amplifier nearing its power limitations—during the auditioning. The No.432 is fully competitive with the best amplifiers Mark Levinson has produced, but offers a greater value, in my view. At $8000 for 400Wpc, the No.432 is about half the price of the company’s comparable efforts of ten or more years ago, and perhaps a touch better sounding. If you don’t need this much power, consider the otherwise-identical 200Wpc (400Wpc into 4 ohms) No.431 at $7000.

If the No.432 held few sonic surprises, the No.326S preamplifier rendered me slack-jawed. Inserting it into the reference system, now with the No.432 installed, completely upended my preconceptions. Yes, the No.326S had some identifiable Levinson characteristics, but was in a completely different league compared with the company’s previous efforts in preamplifier design. Specifically, the No.326S had much less of a “house sound” and vastly greater transparency and truth to the source than any other Mark Levinson preamp I’ve heard. In my review of the Mark Levinson No.38 preamp (Stereophile, August, 1994), for example, I wrote that the unit didn’t quite resolve the last measure of detail, and that its soundstage was somewhat constricted. The No.38 had a veiled and distant character that never really let me connect with the music. Not so the No.326S. This new preamp is absolutely world class in terms of transparency, soundstaging, bass extension, dynamics, and most dramatically, dimensionality.

Inserting the No.326S into my system (combined with the No.432 power amplifier) produced the most convincing and engaging sense of dimensionality I’ve heard from my system. Dimensionality is difficult to describe; it is a multifaceted aspect of reproduced music that encompasses soundstaging, tone color, image focus, bloom, and the ability of a component to resolve space between instrumental images. Dimensionality is that quality of an audio system that provides the impression of an instrument’s size, shape, texture, and precise position in the soundstage. Lots of hi-fi components throw images between the loudspeakers, but very few project a convincing illusion of the instrument’s body hanging in three-dimensional space before you. Dimensionality is also related to a component’s ability to differentiate tone colors, allowing the listener to pick out a single instrument from within a dense orchestration. This particular quality was apparent on the JVC XRCD resissue of Holst’s The Planets during the loud and brash multiple brass lines on “Mars.” I heard no smearing, no congestion, and no congealing of instrumental textures, just a sound very much closer to what one hears in the concert hall. (I had the benefit of hearing The Planets performed recently.) Interestingly, counterpoint was well served by the No.326S’s dimensionality, particularly its ability to keep left- and right-hand piano lines distinct. Listen to the Bach Passacaglia and Fugue as transcribed for piano and performed by Junichi Steven Sato [Sato Music Editions] on a fabulous new recording. The No.326S simply made the counterpoint more interesting and engaging.

Dimensionality is of course dependent on cues encoded in the signal, but is actually created by the brain. The signals driving the left and right loudspeakers are two-dimensional in nature—merely voltages that vary over time. These signals are converted to two patterns of compression and rarefaction in the air. From this pair of two-dimensional signals, the brain creates the illusion of objects (musical instruments) existing in space before us. How miniscule the difference in signals must be between a preamp that delivers dimensionality and one that doesn’t—but how important to the musical experience. Dimensionality gives music a natural sense of vividness and life without resorting to hi-fi trickery. Some components attempt to make up for lack of dimensionality by sounding forward, forced, and aggressive. This sonic vividness quickly becomes fatiguing, but natural dimensionality has the opposite effect, drawing the listener into the presentation in a completely relaxed way that encourages long listening sessions.

The No.326S had a remarkable transparency, not just sonically (lack of veiling), but to the musical expression. For example, when I listened to guitarist John McLaughlin’s Que Alegria [Verve] from start to finish, the wide spectrum of expression on this album seemed to be heightened. The pensive, almost meditative tracks such as “Reincarnation” seemed even more introspective, and the exuberant “1 Nite Stand” conveyed a stronger feeling of this amazing trio locking into a groove and having a blast. I had this impression every time I listened to the system with the No.326S and No.432—of the system conveying the musical values on the recording. Bass extension, definition, and dynamics were another of the No.326S’s great strengths. Whether it was an orchestra’s double- bass section or an electric bass and kick drum working together, the bottom end had a solidity and power that anchored the music.

The No.326S had a very clean, precise sound, presenting the music against an utterly silent and velvet-black backdrop. Musical dynamics seemed to emerge suddenly from this inky blackness, with deep silences between notes. There was a distinctive lack of haze, both in the background and overlaying musical textures. This quality, combined with the dimensionality described earlier, fostered a deep feeling of engagement and involvement with the music.

CONCLUSION

The Mark Levinson No.432 power amplifier is a worthy successor to the company’s previous efforts in power-amplifier design. It combines brute-force output power with remarkable delicacy and resolution, and embodies the company’s aesthetic of subtlety in presentation. If you know and like the classic Mark Levinson sound, the No.432 won’t disappoint.

The No.326S preamp is a huge step forward for Mark Levinson preamplifiers in resolution, transparency, and dimensionality. With less of an identifiable sonic signature, the No.326S is truer to the source, musically and sonically, than any previous ML preamp. There’s much to like about the No.326S, including its jet-black background, unconstricted dynamic expression, bottom-end punch and extension, and clean, grain-free rendering of timbres. It’s also beautifully built and a joy to use. But what really makes the No.326S special is its remarkable dimensionality. This preamp goes beyond conventional soundstaging to throw a convincing illusion of threedimensional instruments in a three-dimensional space.

Based on my experience with the No.326S and No.432, the Mark Levinson brand under Harman International not only upholds the sterling tradition it spent 35 years developing, it has, in my view, actually expanded the reputation of one of the great marques of high-end audio.