Seven years ago, in the November, 1973 issue of Audio, I reported on an unusual
preamplifier I had seen at the 45th AES Convention in Los Angeles, the LNP-2
from Mark Levinson Audio Systems. The LNP-2 had performance specifications
which considerably exceeded those of any preamplifier then on the market and
was constructed to a Rolls Royce standard of quality previously restricted
to aerospace equipment, a fact reflected in its then-outlandish price of $1,750!
I met Mark Levin son at that convention and found him to be one of the most
dedicated, uncompromising audio purists I had ever encountered. How ever, Mark
is first and foremost a musician. He plays the trumpet, fluegel horn, contrabass
and guitar, and his musical interests include jazz and classical music. Although
he does not have for mal training as an audio engineer, Mark has gained a great
deal of engineering knowledge through a sort of osmotic association with some
very bright engineers, and a zealous, though informal, study of audio technology.
As I mentioned to Mark at the time, his dedication to high quality, and his almost cavalier disregard of the cost of attaining that quality, were "not the way to riches." Mark had produced the LNP-2 in a laboratory in his home, with a staff of five eager young audio technicians. I'm sure most of his limited capital was tied up in his pair of LNP-2 prototypes. Currently, Horatio Alger stories are not much in favor, but it is rather nice to know that a better mousetrap could then be built and ultimately reward its manufacturer. Not long after Mark demonstrated his LNP 2 at the 45th AES Convention, he received orders for it from some broadcasters (of all people!) and a few well-heeled audiophiles in this country. To his delight, five preamps were also ordered by some Japanese companies. Subsequent orders came with encouraging frequency from this country and many parts of the world, and Mark Levinson Audio Systems became a going concern.
Recently, Mark Levinson Audio Systems moved into a spacious new manufacturing facility in an industrial park in Hamden, Conn. A few months ago Mark invited me to tour the new plant and promised a behind-the-scenes look at his laboratory and production procedures. While most audiophiles know about the reputation of Levinson products, they really don't know very much about the company or the way it makes audio equipment. In fact, to many audiophiles, Mark Levinson is a rather remote figure. All this has come about because, to the best of my knowledge, Mark's firm has neither exhibited at any audio fair or hi-fi show nor engaged in other activities which would have made its products more familiar to audiophiles. Mark does have a demonstration suite in a Chicago hotel every year during the Summer CES, where he gets together with his dealers from this country and abroad as well as domestic and foreign members of the audio press. However, his suite in Chicago has no official connection with the CES. And, of course, the CES is not officially open to the audio consumer. Another point is that Mark Levinson equipment is never re viewed in the audio "buff books" around the world for the simple reason that no equipment is ever sent to these publications. The only way the audiophile "under ground" magazines manage to review Levinson equipment is by borrowing the gear from individual owners. Nor is advertising in audio publications a source of information on Levinson equipment, since Mark rarely advertises. While all these practices are contrary to those that generally prevail throughout the audio industry, Mark does not feel that he should pursue conventional marketing practices and merchandising techniques because of the particular nature of his business.
Levinson's Line
I was surprised to learn that Mark's staff now numbers 'over 80 people, and as his staff has grown, so has his product list. The LNP-2 preamplifier has long since shed its original op-amp modules for ones of Levinson's own design, and the unit has been updated in other areas. In fact, before long the LNP-2 will be the recipient of the advanced technology embodied in the new ML-7 preamp. A special recording version of the LNP-2 is now becoming popular for certain types of digital re cording. This LNP-2 is set up to accept a pair of B&K 4133 condenser instrumentation microphones. The response of these mikes is flat from 2 Hz to 40 kHz, and they are capable of handling 165 dB SPL! The ML-1 preamplifier, a slim-line purist model, devoid of any meters, tone controls or other "convenience" devices, evolved from an earlier de sign. It is also modular, with epoxy-en capsulated phono and line amplifiers, and features plug-in RIAA phono modules of different gains to accommodate various phono cartridges (including moving-coil types). Extremely low noise and distortion and long-term re liability have made the ML-1 a much desired preamplifier. Here again, the new technology of the ML-7 preamp will affect the ML-1, but in this case it will mean a gradual reduction in the' number of ML-1s produced until it is supplanted altogether by the ML-7.
The ML-2 is Mark Levinson's near-legendary Class-A power amplifier, probably the item most familiar to audiophiles. A mono design, the ML-2 is pure Class A, with no recourse to dynamic biasing or similar circuitry. A mono amp, the ML-2 delivers 45 watts into 8 ohms over the full audio bandwidth, 85 watts Class A into a 4- ohm load, and the same power right down to 2 ohms. If you bridge a pair of ML-2s into 8 ohms you will get 160 watts of Class-A power with virtually unmeasurable THD, IM, and TIM.
In spite of the low model number, the ML-3 power amplifier is one of Mark Levinson's newer products. It is the pride and joy of Tom Colangelo, a gifted young engineer who is vice president in charge of engineering.
The ML-3 is a Class AB amplifier and a real brute physically (120 pounds) and electronically. This stereo amp puts out 200 watts per channel into 8 ohms and clips at 290 watts, but this by no means indicates how powerful the amplifier really is. It will pass 60-volt pulses, with a phenomenal current output of over 30 amperes. Even the most inefficient air-suspension loudspeakers will play very loudly with this kind of amperage available. Into 4 ohms the ML-3 puts out 500 watts per channel; into 2 ohms, given a full 120 volt line and with any kind of complex load, it delivers a staggering 800 watts per channel! All this with extremely low distortion, with no crossover or notch distortion, and with such extensive heat-sinking that no fan is necessary. Even with sustained very low frequency organ pedals, the amplifier is just slightly warm to the touch. Part of the ML-3's tremendous power comes from its extremely "stiff," super-regulated power supply. Each channel has its own toroidal power transformer custom-made in England. Custom made, computer-grade electrolytic capacitors are so big they look like 105-mm artillery shells, and they furnish a whopping 72,000 uF per channel. The ML-3 uses twenty 250-watt bipolar power transistors per channel, plus two driver and two predriver transistors per channel. This driver/predriver setup affords at least several amperes of high drive current to avoid phase shift. The entire amplifier is push-pull, input to output. There are no single ended stages anywhere. Here is a stunt with the ML-3 that certainly has professional implications: Line up four 8-ohm JBL or Altec studio monitor type speakers in parallel per channel, fire up this low-impedance nightmare, and the ML-3 will deliver a kilowatt to each channel!! The ML-5 is the Studer/Levinson tape recorder, a standard Studer A-80 quarter-inch two-channel (half inch two channel may soon be an option) tape recorder modified by replacing five plug-in cards of electronics. One power-supply, two play, and two record cards are furnished with proprietary low-noise, low-distortion Levinson electronics. Equalization is NAB and CCIR at 15 ips, and AES at 30 ips. Tweaked to the nth degree for Ampex 456 tape, the Studer/Levinson affords a dynamic range of 83 dB at 15 ips, and 85 dB at 30 ips. The current price of this unit is $14,000, and Mark has sold over 100 of them--with one client having ordered more than 30.
The ML-6 is a super-purist version of the ML-1, consisting of separate mono preamps and separate power supplies. Internally wired with pure silver wire, with virtually no controls, this is a specialized unit for the phonograph record enthusiast.
The ML-7 is the new preamp I reported on in my CES roundup. It is an entirely new generation of preamplifier, with totally new circuit topology that is the distillation of all of Tom Colangelo's and Mark Levinson's knowledge in this field. Nothing has been spared in the way of parts cost, fabrication technique, or test procedure. Intended as Mark Levinson's definitive statement on preamplifiers, the first production models should be avail able soon.
Assembly Line
The Levinson plant is an efficiently run place. All incoming parts are tested and graded for tolerances. Daniel Schaer, the manager of the engineering department, has set up an effective stream flow for production. In-house production of p.c. board artwork and specialized parts fabrication speed up work considerably. But because the company is in a perennial back-order position and all units are literally handmade, speed is a relative matter.
And nothing can really be rushed, what with the many quality-control checks. For example, the plant has a new wave soldering machine which solders all points on a p.c. board in one pass. Usually the machine is used to speed up production, but in this case it is prized for its even solder-flow temperature and uniformity of results.
Once all the modules of a given component have been fabricated, they are sent to the testing laboratory where batteries of instruments check all pertinent parameters. Then it's back to the line for assembly, to the lab for testing, again to the line for final touches (cosmetic and otherwise), and on to racks where the equipment is "burned in" for several days. Then back to the lab for final quality assurance, and, at long last, on to the packing and shipping department.
Oddly enough, when I first met Mark in 1973, his firm and many others in the audio industry were suffering from an acute parts shortage. The same is true now, but with the added problem of the ravages of inflation.
Lead time on some parts may be many months, but Mark absolutely refuses to use cheaper parts which may be more readily available. He just grits his teeth and waits. Similarly, he showed me two parts: One had cost $2.00 six months ago and now costs $6.00, and the other cost $3.00 a year ago and was now $10.00. Mark absorbs what he can, but inevitably all this must be reflected in higher prices.
Other strange things happen in Mark's area of business. In the middle '70s he had as many as 40 dealers in this country. He later found some simply did not understand the philosophy behind his equipment. Primarily, they were too awed and intimidated by the prices! Now Mark is down to 12 dealers, and his business has quadrupled.
He does a substantial portion of his business abroad, principally in Japan, Hong Kong and Germany. Mark also gets special orders. Jazz/pop star Chick Corea ordered a $100,000 sound-reinforcement and recording system, which included 10 LNP-2 preamps (several the special recording version), 10 ML-2 power amplifiers, numbers of B&K and Schoeps micro phones, and specialized equipment to balance a 13-piece orchestra.
Mark Levinson's credo is professionalism, and his products and way of doing business reflect this attitude. Obviously, Mark's equipment is not for everyone, but then neither is Chateau Lafite Rothschild! However, it's nice to know such things exist.
-----------
(Source: Audio magazine, Nov. 1980; Bert Whyte)
Also see:
Mark Levinson JC-2 Straight-Line Preamplifier (Apr. 1976)
= = = =