Mark Levinson No. 431 (what a champion)

Options
tophatjohnny
tophatjohnny Posts: 4,164
edited November 2020 in 2 Channel Audio
After a year with my Auralic Vega G2 I was thinking it couldn’t sound any better but how wrong I was! From a Liberty Audio B2B 100 All Mos-Fet 2 channel beauty that is a honey of an Amp to the ML no.431 as it’s replacement, what a treat!
The power switch on the B2B 100 came unsoldered so the “what if” bug bit me and I made a couple of calls which steered me to this baby!
I knew so little about Mark Levinson Amps and don’t see much talk about them here but from a reliable and well respected source I took the plunge and couldn’t be happier!
This particular amp doesn’t have a lot of hours on it and still looks brand new! It
was a great find!
I know squat about this stuff but learning as I go. This amp has a separate power supply for both R and L, all new to me.
Set up was a breeze outside of this bad boy weighs in at 95 lbs ! Twice of the amp it replaces!
The amp arrived early Tuesday morning and within a half hour it was all up and running!
Sound?? Oh my goodness, like I’ve never heard my Vega G2 before and an instant SQ boost to my Usher CP 6381C’s . The detail in the music became so much more lifelike and the authority in the bottom end is so fresh and might I add refreshing!
There is no question in what I’m hearing and feeling except what took me so darn long to add an amp worthy of kicking the G2 in the but to my 2 channel rig??
I’m sure there are even better amps out there and even better ML amps but I can say the No.431 has kept me listening to my Vega G2 almost nonstop since I put it in the rack and it slaps smiles on my face with each listen ! a7tte5pfihj9.jpeg
xcukd8b54z3m.jpeg
6wpp3qdimlya.jpeg
7pjasrocg16q.jpg
7ci9ffqquur9.jpg
"if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
*****************************
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • invalid
    invalid Posts: 1,279
    Options
    Nice amp
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • indyhawg
    indyhawg Posts: 1,637
    edited November 2020
    Options
    Nice amp and review Johnny. I am looking forward to hearing it sometime.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • SIHAB
    SIHAB Posts: 4,521
    Options
    way to go Johnny!
    Speakers: Polk Lsim, ATC SCM19 v2, NHT SuperzeroSpeaker Cables: DH Labs, Transparent, Wireworld, Canare, Monster: Beer budget, Bose ears
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • monepolk
    monepolk Posts: 1,141
    Options
    Congrats on the new amp.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,066
    Options
    Enjoy the new Amp Johnny!
    Home Theater
    Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable

    2 Channel
    Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+

    Stuff for the Head
    JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365

    Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
    Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin B)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,582
    Options
    Very nice!!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • gyosa
    gyosa Posts: 699
    Options
    sweet !

    bk
    Dayens Ampino , Yamaha wxc-50 , Polk SDA 1c’s ( my first love .. ) , Kimber Kable 4TC, Sony 42” - BEDROOM

    B&K EX-442 ( it will go in my casket when I die ... ) , PS Audio 4.6 preamp ( old school , but it still jams on ... ) , Eversolo DMP-A6 , Boston Acoustic voyager 7’s - POOL

    Parasound A21, Eversolo DMP-A8 , Yamaha wxc-50 , Kimber Kable 4vs , Salk Supercharged Song towers ( difficult choice between these and my family if I had to choose ... 😩 ) , Sony XBR-A8F 65” OLED - DEN , MAIN RIG

    PS Audio S300 - sitting in the closet for now …

    Onkyo TX-nr609 , Polk atrium 7 , Boston acoustic sound ware (4) , Boston acoustic sub , B&W center , Sharp 65” TV - PATIO
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jumpindick
    jumpindick Posts: 428
    Options
    Nice Amp. Enjoy. Hope all is well.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Milito
    Milito Posts: 1,914
    Options
    Congrats Johnny!
    Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • CH46E
    CH46E Posts: 3,553
    Options
    Drool!!!!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,608
    edited November 2020
    Options
    95lbs?! That is one honkin m-u-t-h-a of an amplifier! Look at that bad boy:

    ra6n6bddaf26.png
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,520
    Options
    I always enjoyed ML gear.

    My 2 friends both have Mark Levinson 536 monoblocks.

    Stereophile ML 536 Monos
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • BlueBirdMusic
    BlueBirdMusic Posts: 2,082
    Options
    Johnny, What a beauty!
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • SIHAB
    SIHAB Posts: 4,521
    edited November 2020
    Options
    OMG! Someone placed four cans of Labatts blue in there!!
    :o
    Clipdat wrote: »
    95lbs?! That is one honkin m-u-t-h-a of an amplifier! Look at that bad boy:

    ra6n6bddaf26.png

    Speakers: Polk Lsim, ATC SCM19 v2, NHT SuperzeroSpeaker Cables: DH Labs, Transparent, Wireworld, Canare, Monster: Beer budget, Bose ears
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • tophatjohnny
    tophatjohnny Posts: 4,164
    Options
    SIHAB wrote: »
    OMG! Someone placed for cans of Labatts blue in there!!
    :o
    Clipdat wrote: »
    95lbs?! That is one honkin m-u-t-h-a of an amplifier! Look at that bad boy:

    ra6n6bddaf26.png

    Not to worry this thing will keep em cool! It just doesn’t break a sweat and sounds amazing at low volumes as well as greater volumes ! Perfect piece for my set up! 😉
    "if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
    *****************************
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,984
    Options
    Dang, that’s nice looking bet it sounds awesome
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • honestaquarian
    honestaquarian Posts: 3,186
    Options
    One of THE BEST sound experiences that I have ever had (and one the most realistic as well) was at an invite only in store demo event of the Polk SRT system featuring Matt Polk that I literally walked into by accident and wound up crashing. The system was being driven by Proceed electronics (Mark Levinson's former "budget" brand) Matt was playing some organ recording and I was sitting in the back of the room behind several rows of chairs filled with people. Despite that fact, once he switched the system from stereo mode to wide mode with the SDA controller my head instantly turned upwards! They used to say that you couldn't record height information onto a stereo recording.
    LIES!
    Suddenly I could hear the entire hall from floor to ceiling. From front to back and I was stunned!!
    Best SDA I have ever heard.
    Mark Levinson and Krell are both originally from my home state of Connecticut (along with Avel-Lindberg transformers) ;)o:)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • tophatjohnny
    tophatjohnny Posts: 4,164
    Options
    How cool that must have been! Not sure where mine was made but it came from Connecticut and the original owner sure babied this amp! Even came with white gloves like my Auralic Vega G2 was delivered with the white gloves? It is the nicest sounding amp I’ve ever owned and it is keeping me glued to the sound! Love it !!
    "if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
    *****************************
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter