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WOULD IT BE DUMB TO BUY A MARK LEVINSON NO 23.5

This amp is probably 30 years old. There is one I can grab for 2500 bucks. Good buy? Too old? What do you goners think? 
jeffvegas
minorl
1,014 posts
 

Congratulations.

The Mark Levinson 23.5 is one of the very best amps that Mark Levinson ever produced.  It is wonderful.  It is as good or better than most amps produced today.  Period.  It can drive any speaker quite well.

Yes, it is a serious PITA to repair because of how the company put it together.  But, not impossible.

If the amp was in good shape and well looked after and the caps and other components are in working order, don't replace the caps.

There was an upgrade to the 23.5 (yes, the 23.5) that was required by Mark Levinson that only authorized repair shops know about.  So, if you have the cash for the cap upgrade and decide to do it, then request the upgrade also.

I vouch for George Meyer AV in Los Angeles.  They do very good work on pretty much any equipment.  They are authorized by Mark Levinson, Audio Research and many others.  Fortunately, when I don't want to work on equipment myself (quite rare), I have no problem using George Meyer technicians.  They are open, friendly and know their stuff.

I know you have already purchased the 23.5.  But for anyone else considering it, if the heat sinks are black and the amp works and is in good shape, you are hard pressed to find a better amp. 

even today.  This is one you absolutely hold on to.

There are others out their that if found, grab.  like Bedini amps (the 25/100/250 amps are great), Threshold, etc. 

anyway, enjoy your 23.5.

minorl
1,014 posts
 

sigh, spell check.

There, not their.

gktaudio's avatar
gktaudio
22 posts
 
+1 on minorl’s comments. I have a 27, and Meyer quoted $2k+ to recap and update the boards with some parts replacements they would not describe. I decided to recap the amp myself, and waited over 3 months for a new run of capacitors to be manufactured. I replaced every electrolytic in the amp, as well as some slightly burned resistors, and as it happened, every output transistor, because 30% of them were substantially out of spec. Rather than just replace that 30% and try to match the new ones to the 30+-year old outputs, I replaced them all.
Schematics for the 27, 27.5, and 23.5 are out there, but adjustment procedures are not well documented and because of the complicated design, are not similar to many other amp designs. It was the most difficult, and least enjoyable amp that I’ve worked on because of the complicated design and construction.
Before the recap and parts replacement, I was really disappointed with the amp, and would have agreed with the negative comments here about the amp performance. At 100 wpc, it was not as powerful as my others (I have 8), but it lacked dynamics and definition. After all of my work, the amp sounds incredible. Working properly, these are wonderful amps, just a bear to work on and expensive to have work done by qualified Levinson techs.Have fun with your 23.5, but my recommendation would be to have the work done sooner than later to reduce chances for failures that could be even more costly, and I think you will then want to keep the amp for a very long time.
jeffvegas OP
372 posts
 
I am looking for another 23.5 to purchase so I have spare parts or if this one blows and cant get fixed I have a backup. 2500 bucks is nothing nowadays for an amp. This amp is seriously good for a 30 year old design. My neighbor was intrigued with the sound and somewhat shocked that it could sound as good as it did. He had to being his D'AGOSTINO MOMENTUM over to bring me back down to earth but I am still happy with my purchase and I didnt have to spend 200 grand for an amp. 
rugyboogie
199 posts
 
Recently picked up a 23.5 in mint shape and IMHO it is more musical and more engaging than my old ML gear. Had the 33, 33h and the 335 which sounded clinical after trying out the ASR Emitter. The 23.5 is still singing and is a keeper.
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