Levinson 3XX Amplifier Repairs

i of course knew about the cap problems but took a chance assuming that if mine needed the repair it would be around $800-$1000...i would have never thought it could be so much. $1600 is getting really close to what it costs levinson to manufacure a complete amp

looking st the bill it was $625 for parts and $975 for labor. they did not provide an itemized list of the parts replaced, i will br requesting this monday...

i also want to mention that prior to repairs i called both places and spoke with a tech trying to get a feel for what it would costprior to shipping it in, both places techs were relativly rude and provided no useful info over the phone.

i purchased the amp and paid for the repair because i love the preformance of it, period. i just wish levinson could control the price of this necessary repair a little better.

sounds like Pass is the way i should have gone

Thanks for the info. I almost bought a 383 with "a hum in the right channel" a few weeks ago. Called Pyramid and they told me $1000 plus "it could be more." Frankly after reading this thread and others about the Levinson "cap problem," Levinson is permanently off my list.

That's the problem, huge flat rates for any Harman specialty group products. It's sad that a company like Levinson can't stand behind their products. For what it's worth The Service Bench in Norwood MA sucks, they gave me the run around on a CD repair keeping it for almost six weeks and charging me twice the "estimate". They probably would have said $1800 for your amp when all was said and done. Real Douchebags.

Sorry to hear that this is happening to you. This happened to my 333 twice within the 8 years I had it. I had purchased it as a dealer demo. But found out afterwards from Madrigal that the dealer had sent it in once already for that same repair. The second time it was covered under the warranty. But the third time, I had to shell out like $1400 to get it repaired. They did the same thing to my #37 transport at around the same time when all I needed was a recalibration (a push of several buttons according to a tech manual they had published internally), and they charged me $1600 to replace the entire transport mechanism and updated software.

Needless to say, when I got the amp back, I traded it in for a Pass X350.5 right away. The 333 did sound better afterwards, but I was not prepared to be spedning $1400 every 5 years to keep it running. For that matter, the Pass X350.5 was another league ahead of the 333 in terms of sound. And well, I will never purchase another product with Levinson badge or anything put out by Madrigal or Harmon International for that matter.

Not sure what the best advice would be. But if you get it fixed, trade it in for something else right away!!!! My 333 had a trade-in value of $2800 about 2 years ago, and that was generous. So I'm not sure it's even worth fixing the 332. Maybe just take the loss??

My sympathies,
FrankC

I have a new Levinson 432 from an authorized dealer that has a bias problem and a thermal shutoff problem. It is covered by a 3 year warranty. I am sending to the Service Center and will keep you posted as to the results.

I am told these amps were all shipped with the bias set improperly so this is the reason the amps shut off thermally.

Otherwise the amp sounds VERY good.

As the economy goes in the tank look for fewer service departments and more corner cutting. Pass and MacIntosh are two of the few that truly back up their equipment.