Levinson 360s + Sony 9000ES ?

Hello, It is very hard to beleive that the sony is better It had to be the conditions you stated. If the sony did sound better then Levinson would probablly go under. You need to try both peices and use the same equipment through out including the wires.

Which transport were you using with the 360s?

Check out last weeks thread titled "Is there an SACD that plays CD's well"?
http://audiogo1.iserver.net/cgi-bin/forum5.pl?ddgtl&986901823&openfrom&2&4#2
Don't stop after one or two posts, you must read at least as far as Albert Porter's post, where he tested the Levinson against the Sony. He gave a very helpful review with important insight into SACD.

Hi Lev335, I'm not saying that the Sony is better just that
the interconnects are making more of a difference. I'm
using 9000es as my transport. Rest of system consist of BAt
vk30se pre, B&W N802, Jeff Rowland 8t amp, Perpetual Technologies upsampler and speaker correction, ASC tube traps, TRansparent Reference speaker wires + 2 sets of ultra
XL (xlr)interconnects, 2 Richard G line conditioners, 2 Transparent Reference digital cables+ 1 Powersnake Cobra
on the pre as my pc. I know the 360s is better, but I'm getting better results by upgrading my interconnect. This
week I will try to audition two sets of Reference XL interconnects to compare. One XLR for the 360s another single ended for the Sony. The Levinson I hear works best
balanced.

To receive the best performance out of the Levinson or any good high end audio you really need to go balanced. Good system your running. good luck