Who heard the Mark levinson 53 monos?

French Fries,
I did hear the 53 monoblocks briefly this summer in the Harmon traveling trailer that demos Levinson, Revel, and JBL. The sound was good, but voiced to impress. The technology used inside the trailer and the ability to move it all around across the country was SOTA I'm sure. It sure looked slick.

I'm certainly not going to knock the sound of the 33h. It is a great amplifier I and many others agree. A Madrigal design. I would hope that the 53 is incredibly better for the price. I've never said I didn't like the sound of the Levinson equipment made by Madrigal, (sorry I can't speak for equipment designed by Mark Levinson himself, I've never heard any). I invested thousands at the time and probably would again if the franchieses were renewed and supported again, like some other companies that have been revived, Marantz and McIntosh come to mind. I think the build quality and engineering were second to none in the industry under Madrigal. As for sound quality, my investments in Madrigal equipment(31.5 transport, 30.6 DAC, 360s DAC, #39 CD Player, #380 Preamp, #32 Preamp, #336 amplifier, two pair of #436 amplifiers, Revel Salons, and Revel Sub30 Subwoofers) make me a more than casual fan.

But the wait of over six months for a Salon midrange, a Salon returned from service with what appeared like and smelled like dog urine on the grill, my amps held captive for almost 9 months while Harmon employees were first locating my equipment, then "fixing" it, having the same amps shipped back and forth across the country multiple times only to be dead in the box on arrival, and then factor in the exorbinant amounts of money charged to repair the Levinson electronics if out of warranty by the only three (now only 2 service centers I believe) Levinson repair stations in the country is a road I will not take again. Let's not mention the termination of almost all the engineers and service techs employed by Madrigal who were working one day and unemployed the next.
Levinson has only been retructured and combined with other Harmon companies at least 3 times in the past since the demise of Madrigal. This was all caused because Harmon claims that Madrigal's companies were losing money. I'd sure like to see the balance sheets before Harmon raped Madrigal and were shipping fine products around the world compared to today's profit margin.

My advice, enjoy your 33hs and 326s preamp (both designed and voiced by Madrigal). They are both beautiful and excellent sounding gear. Find someone who can repair the the equipment locally if possible. And remember you're at Harmon's mercy for support and parts.

The big problemo is there are almost NO dealers and the few that are left are mostly home theater or custom system integrators (what ever the heck that is). Harman is to caught up in the ultra high end home theater market. It's too bad the really ended Madrical Labs, and now ML it is just a name like all the other Harman brands.

thanks to everyone for their responses (especially SGR). i wonder how their RECENT repair record has been for levinson customers. if this situation has not improved, then (unfortunately) i would no longer be inclined to finance a pair of $50K amplifiers. however i am quite sure Harmon has received alot of unfavorable feedback in the last few years, SO they MUST be aware that they aren't going to sell much of anything if the situation doesn't improve.
i ALSO had to repair a #37 transport (it made a scratching noise when spinning discs and started to skip towards the end of discs as well)- it cost about $1000- this should have been more on the order of $500 IMO. i also had to repair one of the 33H amplifiers- $1800 plus shipping both ways plus... however the turnaround times were reasonable for both components. plus the tech in TEXAS spent several minutes on the phone with me describing what had failed in the amplifier (plus he did some preventative cap replacements).
after reading the audiogon forums for some time now i see alot of things out there that need adjustments, repairs, and replacements from some very
"holy grail" manufacturers either on arrival or 2-3 years thereafter. as much as i believe high-end gear should perform flawlessly for 10 years or more before the first sign of (even the slightest) trouble, the reality is that that may have applied more for pioneer receivers in the 80's than krell, rowland, or levinson NOW.
anyway, hopefully HARMAN is paying careful attention to customer concerns both now and into the future. I really REALLY do hope they do not destroy altogether the incredible reputation that these components have earned.

French Fries,
I believe the reasons above are why there are few dealers. They got so discouraged with not being able to get any new product and the service issues they found other lines to replace the Levinson/Revel products. A good friend of mine worked for the largest Levinson dealer in the country and they begged Harman to change their ways to no avail so they were forced to drop the line.
I'll always be a Levinson fan, just not a Harman fan.
Have fun!
Sgr

have not heard anything newer the the 400 series amps but still consider myself a Levinson fan. guess i'd have to be a fan as a current owner =). fell in love with the 33's and 300 series way back when. 400's only reinforced the feelings. dark or whatever you'd like to call it, Levinson amps (400's on back) have always sounded fantastic imho.

then came the 300's cap issues, crazy repair bills and turn around times. horrible customer service all around, from almost everything i've read. it's a shame what "they" have done to the brand. as a happy owner, i still dread the day if/when my 432 needs work. so far it's been fantastic (please knock on some wood for me). but if i ever have to go through the hell others have described.....i'll be done with the brand too.

cheers
Lev