Levinson:
It just exudes luxury and quality to me. I love the way the buttons feel, the way the knobs turn, the displays, all of it. They sweat the details in my opinion. Pride of ownership is thru the roof. I also love the sound. It's smooth and refined yet open and detailed without being in your face. I also like the flexibility of the SW and .1dB volume increments.
Audio Research:
I've owned a couple of ARC preamps and enjoyed my time with them but never "fell" for them. They are excellent pieces but I always worried about tubes degrading which bugged me. I also think I just prefer a well executed SS preamp.
Bryston:
Again, just never really been blown away by their products but I know lots of people love them. |
Oh, I forgot to mention that resale value on the ML and ARC gear is another key factor in my mind. |
Wow thats a tough ill think about it get back to you asap. |
@minorl - thanks for your thoughtful post. However, I am really just wanting people to talk about the three brands so we can all learn from the exchange. As for specific recommendations pertaining to my direction - no need to worry about it right now. I tend to collect vintage stuff & have pieces of equipment from all three of the brands I targeted for this discussion. Eventually, I do plan to re-do my primary system in the brand I am leaning towards...but I do not want to bias the conversation by announcing which.
Right now, my primary system makes me quite happy. I am running a Parasound Model 2100 PreAmp & Model 2250 v1 amp into 2 different pairs of speakers [never play them simultaneously]: #1 Klipsch Forte II & #2 Gallo Reference 3.1. I am running 2 DACs: Levinson No. 36 & ARC DAC-8. My subwoofer is a Gallo CL-12. The digital sources are SonyES 608ESD single CD, SonyES C77-ES 5-disc changer, Pioneer Elite MJ-17D mini-disc & Bryston BDP-1. The analog sources are Nak CR-5A cassette, Marantz ST7001 tuner & an AT LP-1240 TT through a MacIntosh MP-100 phono preamp. Definitely a mixed bag of toys! However, they all cohabitate and make wonderful music together. I am still amazed at how differently the Klipsch vs the Gallo speakers sound. Also, the substantial difference between the music made by the 2 different DACs. Thus far, I would be hard-pressed to declare either individual piece in each competing pair to be clearly superior.
Thanks again. |
jetter"his paragraph beginning with …." it is not for you to limit, restrict...." is a copy and paste that appears in a number of his/her posts and almost seems computer generated."
I will consistently, steadfastly, and repeatedly defend, support, and endorse those who use this forum to share, express, and explain they’re thoughts, beliefs, or opinions even if many seek to
limit, restrict, or discourage
them because they they disagree or are offended, insulted, or embarassed. If you confuse such action, effort, and determination with "
computer generated" posts then you are mistaken, confused, or disoriented.
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