mark levinson 23.5 or Ayre V5? That's the problem

I owned Ayre (V3) and Vienna (Beethovens) for about a year of great listening. I know these aren't the models you're asking about, but the newer Ayre is even better than the classic model, and the Mahlers like good solid power just like the Beethovens did. In addition, I think Ayre is a GREAT company that provides great customer service and product updates for very reasonable cost. Therefore, the V5 gets my vote.

I take exception with Karls comment that ML amps are sterile and sanitized.
I've owned a #23 and currently
a 27.5 and I like them very much. They lack the brittle
edge of many solid state amps, have solid well-defined
bass and a warm midrange. I've owned tubes (ARC D-125),
and a Threshold 400A, Dyna 416, Pass Aleph 5, and others.
I find the Levinson amps the most to my liking. However,
as stated by Karls, YYMV.

the 23.5 is a very good amp but he NEED very good cables
pre and cd player.

The point is the current range of 3kk amps is sterile. This is borne out by my listening, indeed. Previous amps, and reportedly the 4kk series, are not so bad.

I am currently driving a pair of Mahlers with a Plinius SA250MKIV AMP with marvelous results....