Summits and Mark Levinson No.432 Amplifier

MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum

Help Support MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

edwinr

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
946
Reaction score
0
I just traded my Proceed power amp on a new Mark Levinson No. 432 power amp.

Initial impressions are very telling. I am suffering from shock, dizziness, dry mouth etc, etc. That, my friends was even before I plugged this monster into my system. I know why I felt like that - it was a direct result of the huge amount of money that changed hands before I took delivery. :eek1:

OMG! Did my bank balance take some punishment!

Then I had to tell my wife...

She didn't take it too well.

The blood curdling screams when I told her how much the amplifier cost bought my entire household running in to my music room to find out what had happened. In any event my screaming eventually abated after I passed out from my wife's pummelling...

When I recovered consciousness she told me I would be keeping the amplifier "over your dead body". I said (rather stupidly) "Don't you mean over my dead body?" She said: "I know what I said..." Gulp! :eek:

So after some smooth talk and an agreement that I will paint the house, I have been permitted to hook the amplifier up. To be perfectly frank, I was very concerned that this thing would not live up to expectations. After all it's just an amplifier - although with a claimed 400 watts into 8 ohms and 800 watt into 4 ohms, you would be entitled to expect something kinda special...

Well first impressions are pretty good. It's still warming up but the music through the Summits has gone from 'wow, that's good' to 'OMG, I can't believe the sound!'. It seems as though the Summits have grown in stature and they are now playing with the most unbelievable dynamics. Bass has tightened up and now has real drive (this surprises me as I didn't think it'd make that much difference given the Summits built-in 2 x 200 digital power amplifiers). Also another thing that has become apparent is the VERY low noise floor and the accompanying improvement in resolution. I am now hearing things on my CD's that I hadn't heard before.

I guess it's easy to get carried away with a new component. But I can't deny the qualities of this very, very powerful amplifier.

Here's a pic...
 

Attachments

  • 432.jpg
    432.jpg
    144.9 KB
Last edited:
Congratulations on living to listen another day! I hooked up my Proceed Amp 5 to the Summits to break them in in the video system-great sound, but when I finally hooked them up to my Rowland in the big rig I was also taken aback. Looks like you have found yet another synergistic match. The Summits certainly reveal differences between amps, but no amp I have listened with has sounded bad. Guess I will also have to listen to Levinson when new amp time comes! You and I have similar ancillary components as well!
 
Congratultions on your new amp. :D The Summits really can tell you everything about what is upstream of them. What did the new ML replace??????

Enjoy your system, your wife will return to normal. I know this, since I am on my second one :eek:
 
LOL, very well written.

Glad to hear your are around to actually enjoy the new amp...
 
Here's another pic. The room's a bit messy with my cables everywhere...
 

Attachments

  • ML.jpg
    ML.jpg
    127.5 KB
Man has to be able to take a beating from mama in order to enjoy his tunes !

Very nice pull on the amp. !
 
what a coincidence ????:bowdown:
I traded 2 months ago my proceed HPA 3 for ..........a Mark Levinson 432 to run my Summits.
I think i'm not alone on this planet :rocker:
 
curious as to why you did not go with an Ayre amp to go with your cd player?
To my listening ears the Ayre gives better dynamics than the mark levinson.
 
curious as to why you did not go with an Ayre amp to go with your cd player?
To my listening ears the Ayre gives better dynamics than the mark levinson.

Two very good reasons. Firstly I just couldn't get the Ayre for the same bargain price I got the 432 for. Secondly, while I have respect for the sound quality of my Ayre CD player, I have some reservations about the reliability. My Ayre CD player has developed a couple of gliches when attempting to navigate the discs e.g. the player returns to the main disc menu when selecting various tracks. It doesn't do this all the time but enough to irritate. :(
 
If there is any problem with the ayre piece just send it in to Steve and the guys at Ayre. They will quickly resolve your problem
 
Thanks. I'm gonna do that soon. The glitch just comes and goes though. Could be a soft-ware problem.

P.S. The 432 just keeps getting better. Man, those Summits LOVE that power.
 
Thanks. I'm gonna do that soon. The glitch just comes and goes though. Could be a soft-ware problem.

P.S. The 432 just keeps getting better. Man, those Summits LOVE that power.

Edwin, I had to send my Ayre C5xe back twice already! Also "glitches" in the software. I think their players need to come with an ethernet port at this point!
 
Edwin, I had to send my Ayre C5xe back twice already! Also "glitches" in the software. I think their players need to come with an ethernet port at this point!
If you feel you are not getting the "proper service" on your Ayre, then you should stop by the Audio Asylum Hi-Rez forum where Charles Hansen visits daily and ask about your issues:

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/tv.mpl?forum=hirez

I am sure Charles would be glad to address them as he seems to be very receptive about his products and issues that may arise.
 
InAyre's defense they have always been gracious every time I call to whine and they always fix what is wrong promptly. But things keep going wrong...
 
If there is any problem with the ayre piece just send it in to Steve and the guys at Ayre. They will quickly resolve your problem

Just for info for anyone interested in an Ayre CD player to maybe match with their Martin Logans - I had a few glitches with my CX-7e that appeared from time to time where the player didn't read a disc or failed to allow individual track selection. Anyhow, I contacted Ayre via my local dealer. I'm pleased to say Ayre has diagnosed the minor problem and is going to install a software upgrade. Also Ayre is taking it upon themselves to replace my transport for the very latest version plus update the internals etc, etc. at no cost. :rocker:

I must say I am very impressed with Ayre's response and backup for their product. This is the the kind of service and backup you get from Martin Logan, which responded in a like manner when I had some minor setting up issues with my Summits. :music:

Thankyou.

P.S. Re the minor setting up issue - there was nothng wrong with my Summits. It ended up being a power amplifier fault which ML helped diagnose...
 
Last edited:
Back
Top