Opinions On Mark Levinson No. 36 DAC Repair


Hi

I have a Mark Levinson No. 36 DAC that has served me well for quite a number of years. It has recently given up the ghost and the local Mark Levinson dealer wants to charge about $700 to have it repaired which I thought exorbitant considering it doesn't have much of a resale value. I run it with a Micromega Solo CD Player which I use as a transport. Am I better junking the DAC and using the $700 towards a new DAC? With current digital, is the sound of the Mark Levinson No. 36 pretty much obsolete now and can less $ buy better sound?

Thanks for your views.

Regards

Mike
mikey8811

Showing 1 response by forrestc

I had my 36 repaired by Levinson repair guys at Harmon. You *will* pay within about $50 of the "it won't cost anymore than $XXX.XX no matter what's wrong with it" price. Mine turned out to just have a few bad electrolytic caps due to age in one analoge section, but they did replace a number of like caps throughout the entire unit. The repair cost was over $700.00, and it will cost you even more if you don't return it in the correct Levinson box, because you will get it back in the correct Levinson box. If I had to do it again, I would seriously consider using a capable third-party repair shop for about half the price of what I paid.