Mark Levinson 33H

nirodha

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Aug 11, 2010
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Hi all,
we all have memories of special audio gear. I was always smitten by the Mark Levinson 33H monaural power amps. I still love the way they look and I can remember how effortless they performed. Are there any users here of these iconic amps? Is my desire based on a romantic fantasy devoid of realism, or in other words, are the 33H overtaken by the amps of today? Thanks for your input. I have been using a Nagra Classic amp for some time now and it is wonderful. However.... well ye know...;)
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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in the late 90's i owned the ML335, the 33H mono's, and then the big, bad No. 33 mono's.

the 33H's were more pure sounding in some ways than the 33's, but the 33's did space and ease way better. that was all with Wilson WP 5.1's and 6.0's.

then i got different speakers and amps.......Kharma Exquisite Reference 1D's and Tenor 75 watt OTL's and never looked back. later switched to darTZeel 108A's.

conclusion; the 33H was a very fine amp compared to it's contemporaries; especially with a small room or efficient speakers, but it's a couple steps below the early dart 108 from that same time period. the 33H was refined, but the noise floor was not that low, and it was relatively opaque sounding compared to the dart. you heard through it.

industrial design?

those Mark Levinson monoblocks from that period are a couple of the best all time looking audio items........ever. if you want a great 'looking' system that won't hurt your ears then they are good choices. but they don't compete on performance. and if you did acquire them they likely need freshening of some aged pieces.
 

gian60

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Apr 17, 2016
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My friend living 6 km from my home has ML 32 and ML 33 with Wilson X1
Sound is good,but little dark for me.
He bought also Riviera pre and mono amp and sound is better,more natural and more details.
Never listened 33H,but if has good price are always wonderful amp
 
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shakti

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May 9, 2015
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Last weekend we compared ML33h to Boulder 1060 amp on Duntech Sovereign speakers.
Both amps were able to drive the Duntech, Ml33h had more grip in the bass, Boulder more refinement and details over all.
PreAmp was VTL 7.5 MkI
 
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ddk

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May 18, 2013
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Bought a pair of ML33's when they first came out and hands down they sounded the best among among all other amplifiers I owned at that time which included ARC Ref 600, Krell Audio Standard, Manley Ichiban and whatever the top of the Classé amps were at the time. ML33 were the only amps capable of driving my beloved Apogees properly, didn't know the type of great bass Divas were capable of until then but wouldn't want to own them today, too much distortions.

david
 
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ddk

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May 18, 2013
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My friend living 6 km from my home has ML 32 and ML 33 with Wilson X1
Sound is good,but little dark for me.
He bought also Riviera pre and mono amp and sound is better,more natural and more details.
Never listened 33H,but if has good price are always wonderful amp
ML32 was very dark, Levinson never made a good preamp also X1 is a little on the dark side as well. I owned the 33s and would never call them natural!

david
 
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nirodha

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ML32 was very dark, Levinson never made a good preamp also X1 is a little on the dark side as well. I owned the 33s wouldn't ever call them natural!

david
Thank you David, I agree on the preamp.. ML never got that right. I wondered at your observation of the 33 being distorted or unnatural. I only heard the smaller sibling (33H) once but never got that impression. I can imagine that there are a lot (!) amps with better resolution nowadays but then we land in a discussion if high rez equals musicallity. Wim
 

nirodha

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One thing I don't like is that you cannot change the power cables. I am a huge fan of the NCF nanoflux by Furutech
 

ddk

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May 18, 2013
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Thank you David, I agree on the preamp.. ML never got that right. I wondered at your observation of the 33 being distorted or unnatural. I only heard the smaller sibling (33H) once but never got that impression. I can imagine that there are a lot (!) amps with better resolution nowadays but then we land in a discussion if high rez equals musicallity. Wim
It all depends on what type of sound one is focused on, my understanding of sound quality has changed since the 90's as has my taste. I don't care for 99% of the electronics today so I don't think there's been much improvement in the last couple of decades and High Rez is debatable depending on one's definition of the term.

david
 
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gadawg58

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Apr 7, 2018
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It’s been a long time since I heard the No33’s but I remember i loved them. I have the No536‘s today and believe the newer version to be better. That said audio memory is terrible and it would be fun to compare the No33’s to my No536’s in my current system.

George
 
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Kingsrule

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Feb 3, 2011
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One thing I don't like is that you cannot change the power cables. I am a huge fan of the NCF nanoflux by Furutech
On the 33's u can pop out the ac module and put in any cord u want. If I recall there was a 120, 220 and 240 module available
The 240 sounded best

Also, IMO having owned both 33 and 33H the 33 was far superior. That being said, I think I'd pass on ownership today for all the reasons discussed above
 
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Alrainbow

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Dec 11, 2013
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i own them ML 33 completely rehabbed . all new caps and adjusted back to factory specs . caps used are all same brand and specs or better . the preamp is ml 26 also rehabbed . on my system coming form a modded aragon 4004 mkii the amps were a leap in many ways . they seem to project a stage and allows it to grow and reseed as music plays . a much stronger sense of presence . a noise floor that has no bottom , this allowed for much better low level micro details . in general a smoother sound , more musical . i also own a krell 700 cx and KTC preamp combo . both the krell pre and amp are stock . i have new caps for the amp but have not done the work yet. the krell combo is a bit warm and this can be the preamp . my ml 26 on balance is not happy , sounds is just bad . i did some reading and it seems there are a few ways to use an xlr on amp inputs . who knew this hobby is full of ill do it this way and they do another way . ill make an adaptor to fix it soon. today ill try it se .
regarding sound so far and this is not a final comment . the krell is a amazing amp . it too handles my speakers with no effort . my bass towers have there own amps so i cant comment of bass control . the combo has excellent presence and staging is pin point like the ml 33 are . but the krell seems to be faster and more visceral attack . but still very controlled , no hint of shouting . if i get the krell to be less warm and im hopeful i can it would be a battle of the legacy titans .
 

Alrainbow

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Dec 11, 2013
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one last thought we all do this and i feel its just wrong . any given amp much less preamp , amp combo yields a sound and then any given speaker loads vay a given amps sound greatly . i have heard it at my place many times . if a class a biased amp that lacks enough drivers or over all power at low Z LOADS .sounds dark , muddled . i had a buds gryphon amp athe something it was horrible at 100% bias 75 better 50 % ok . after a full recap results were the same but far better overall at low volume . at higher volume it shouted as it clipped . just my thoughts on varying comments of a given amp
 

nirodha

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Aug 11, 2010
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Thank you all for your input! Really appreciated. A lot to think about. Maybe one thing is overlooked. People looking back on the 33(H) they had in the past .... is it at all possible to isolate the 33(h) from the set you had in like 2005? I mean the speakers were different (of lesser quality) etc. etc. Who of you can compare the 33H to the later 53 which is very much distrusted in the audiophile world?
 

sbnx

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Mar 28, 2017
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I must admit I lusted after the 33's back in the late 90's. I had to "settle" for the 333. I have seen a few 33's listed on audiogon through the years and have given thought to buying a pair to try them out. The problem, as I see it, is the asking price. Most of the time they are listed for $16-$17K. This is a bit much for an amp that is 20+ years old. If they were in the $10-12K range then I think they would be a great choice for someone.
 

gadawg58

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Apr 7, 2018
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Thank you all for your input! Really appreciated. A lot to think about. Maybe one thing is overlooked. People looking back on the 33(H) they had in the past .... is it at all possible to isolate the 33(h) from the set you had in like 2005? I mean the speakers were different (of lesser quality) etc. etc. Who of you can compare the 33H to the later 53 which is very much distrusted in the audiophile world?
While I can't compare the 53 to the 33H directly ... I can tell you as an owner of 536's ... the 536's were better when compared to the 53's in my system. It's not that the 53's are terrible ... they do have bottom end extension as well as throw a very very large soundstage. They also had plenty of power on tap although the Wilson speakers I've owned the last many years have all been fairly efficient. The upper mids and highs though were a bit thin and edgy and it seemed as if the 53s did the holographic soundstage maybe too often whether or not that was part of the source material though to some that may enticing. They definitely had a sound and one I didn't care for though I suspect others might. I owned 33's for a short time years ago and I don't remember ever feeling that something was missing, thin or maybe a little harsh sounding in the mids and highs with those amps at all like I did with the 53s. ( I know audio memory is awful and I could be remembering the 33s more kindly than they deserved) and from what I've read the 33's and 33H were cut from a similar cloth so I could imagine the 33H's being preferable to 53's depending on the rest of the setup. I can tell you I could happily live with 33s today ... I couldn't live with the 53s even for a few hours.

George
 
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Alrainbow

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i can say to anyone concidering a 20 year old amp , caps completly must be changed if not it may end up as another amp tail as damn i thought they would have been better
 
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gadawg58

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Apr 7, 2018
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i can say to anyone concidering a 20 year old amp , caps completly must be changed if not it may end up as another amp tail as damn i thought they would have been better
Are the caps for the No33's still readily available you think?
 

nirodha

Well-Known Member
Aug 11, 2010
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I emailed the Dutch importer about the serviceability of the 33H. Will keep you posted
According to the Dutch importer the 33H power caps are no longer available to them. This means they have to use third party components if they fail. I do not know if this a real problem...?!? Apart from this, they see no problem in maintaining service for years ahead.
 
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