Spike
Well-known member
As in my previous post “Blown request woofer”, for some reason, the speaker terminals to the left woofer got lodged together, causing the left channel of my trusty Classe’ CA300 to blow. I contacted a few technicians, only to come to the same conclusion that it will cost $1.5k - $2k to fix, not to mention the cost of shipping this juggernaut to and from the service center. Given the Classe’ is 18-years-old, I’ve decided to take this opportunity to upgrade my amplifier with a $3k budget.
Upgrading from the Classe’ was not going to be easy, given how good the Classe’ was. The short list of usual suspects were: Pass, BAT, Krell (KSA or FPB), Rowland and Levinson. From day 1, my immediate thought was the (much controversial) Pass X250 which was still for sale by Johnny at the time. I thought this was my chance to own a piece of MLO history and to keep the Pass within the MLO family
But alas, it was not to be since the X250’s footprint is too deep for my Lovan rack. Next up was the Krell FPB200c. Everything was right with this amp, except for this little blurb about mating FPB with tube preamplifier in the user manual. It turned out to be nothing, but while doing the research on this topic, I came across a listing for a Levinson 332. After more in-depth research, I came to the conclusion that the Levinson 332 will fit my system better than the Krell, everything considered, not just the audio parameters.
Luckily, I was able to locate a 331 locally (in the SF Bay Area), mint condition, caps update by Audible Difference. Doing some math on paper, I figure that the 331 will be enough with 100 wpc, and that the 332 or 333 will be overkill. That was on paper, but still, how can the 331 at 100wpc stack up against the juggernaut Classe’ at 300wpc? I was a little bit skeptical and I had to keep repeating to myself that signal purity is more important than sheer power. After all, I am replacing the Classe’ with something putting out 1/3 of its power! I kept reminding myself that the simpler circuitry putting out 100wpc is much better than a complex one putting out 200wpc or 300wpc. Making a long story short, the local seller has retired and moved abroad. He’s back in the Bay Area for 2 months to sell off his stuff which have been in storage for the last few years. This 331 is mint condition, not a mark or scratch anywhere! From initial inspection, it looks like the Levinson stacks up pretty well with the Classe’. Physically bigger and a few pounds heavier than the Classe’. Much of the weight could be attributed to the power supplies of the Levinson and spec-wise, it has MORE power reserve than the Classe’! Being an audiophile/engineer for life, the seller offered to have me audition the amp for a week to see if it will work in my system. Whoa, how often do you see this kind of offer from an private seller? Needless to say, I took up the offer in a heartbeat! I picked it up yesterday, hooked it up and listen to it last night. Needless to say, all of my doubts went out the window, and my jaw was left on the floor last night. This 100-watter can go toe-to-toe with any high-power amp any day! It goes deeper and has more grip on the woofers than the Classe’. Had I not known this is a 100-watter, I would have thought the power comes from a 250+ watter, easily. Last night, I kept pulling out male vocal to put the Levinson through its pace and it was pretty incredible. It’s true that most of the vocal cues we hear comes from the panels, but the overlapped region between the panels and woofers play a vital role in the presentation. The fundamental frequency of an adult male ranges between 85-180Hz, adult female between 165-255Hz. Basically, this range falls well within the frequency range reproduced by the Levinson and woofers. It is here that a high quality amp like Levinson, Pass, BAT, etc… builds the foundation and underlying tone, making the vocal sound more realistic. With the Levinson, there’s a sense of “immediacy”, as if a haze has bit lifted from the Classe’. “Visually”, it was as if the singer took a step forward where I could hear his voice directly.
I am now a firm believer that the musical quality of the bass amplifier plays as much an important role as the amplifier handling the higher frequencies. In my system, the Levinson 331 driving the woofers is a perfect match with the SixPacs driving the panels :rocker:
Upgrading from the Classe’ was not going to be easy, given how good the Classe’ was. The short list of usual suspects were: Pass, BAT, Krell (KSA or FPB), Rowland and Levinson. From day 1, my immediate thought was the (much controversial) Pass X250 which was still for sale by Johnny at the time. I thought this was my chance to own a piece of MLO history and to keep the Pass within the MLO family
But alas, it was not to be since the X250’s footprint is too deep for my Lovan rack. Next up was the Krell FPB200c. Everything was right with this amp, except for this little blurb about mating FPB with tube preamplifier in the user manual. It turned out to be nothing, but while doing the research on this topic, I came across a listing for a Levinson 332. After more in-depth research, I came to the conclusion that the Levinson 332 will fit my system better than the Krell, everything considered, not just the audio parameters.Luckily, I was able to locate a 331 locally (in the SF Bay Area), mint condition, caps update by Audible Difference. Doing some math on paper, I figure that the 331 will be enough with 100 wpc, and that the 332 or 333 will be overkill. That was on paper, but still, how can the 331 at 100wpc stack up against the juggernaut Classe’ at 300wpc? I was a little bit skeptical and I had to keep repeating to myself that signal purity is more important than sheer power. After all, I am replacing the Classe’ with something putting out 1/3 of its power! I kept reminding myself that the simpler circuitry putting out 100wpc is much better than a complex one putting out 200wpc or 300wpc. Making a long story short, the local seller has retired and moved abroad. He’s back in the Bay Area for 2 months to sell off his stuff which have been in storage for the last few years. This 331 is mint condition, not a mark or scratch anywhere! From initial inspection, it looks like the Levinson stacks up pretty well with the Classe’. Physically bigger and a few pounds heavier than the Classe’. Much of the weight could be attributed to the power supplies of the Levinson and spec-wise, it has MORE power reserve than the Classe’! Being an audiophile/engineer for life, the seller offered to have me audition the amp for a week to see if it will work in my system. Whoa, how often do you see this kind of offer from an private seller? Needless to say, I took up the offer in a heartbeat! I picked it up yesterday, hooked it up and listen to it last night. Needless to say, all of my doubts went out the window, and my jaw was left on the floor last night. This 100-watter can go toe-to-toe with any high-power amp any day! It goes deeper and has more grip on the woofers than the Classe’. Had I not known this is a 100-watter, I would have thought the power comes from a 250+ watter, easily. Last night, I kept pulling out male vocal to put the Levinson through its pace and it was pretty incredible. It’s true that most of the vocal cues we hear comes from the panels, but the overlapped region between the panels and woofers play a vital role in the presentation. The fundamental frequency of an adult male ranges between 85-180Hz, adult female between 165-255Hz. Basically, this range falls well within the frequency range reproduced by the Levinson and woofers. It is here that a high quality amp like Levinson, Pass, BAT, etc… builds the foundation and underlying tone, making the vocal sound more realistic. With the Levinson, there’s a sense of “immediacy”, as if a haze has bit lifted from the Classe’. “Visually”, it was as if the singer took a step forward where I could hear his voice directly.
I am now a firm believer that the musical quality of the bass amplifier plays as much an important role as the amplifier handling the higher frequencies. In my system, the Levinson 331 driving the woofers is a perfect match with the SixPacs driving the panels :rocker:
