Took my Levinson amp in for repair

Sorry to hear you are experiencing this situation. The facts stated, though, leave a lot of things unclear.

They would be liable only if there is reason to believe that the damage was either caused by or worsened by their negligence or carelessness. As opposed, for instance, to some undiscovered pre-existing defect in the amplifier, or some problem that may have developed during transportation. In those situations, as long as they noticed the smoke and turned off the amplifier quickly, I’m not sure how they could be held responsible.

Also, whether or not they are insured has no relation to whether or not they are liable. Its effect would be, hopefully, on their willingness to accept responsibility, and perhaps on their ability to pay.

Has the root cause of the problem been diagnosed, and have they determined what was damaged as a result, and why? Has it been established if the leaky capacitor had anything to do with the smoking that occurred when they plugged it in, or for that matter with the noise you heard previously? Have they determined what part was smoking? When the smoke appeared, do they claim to have noticed it and turned off the amp promptly? Have they determined what the repair costs would be?

I don’t mean to be discouraging, but I’m not sure that anything meaningful can be said unless the answers to these kinds of questions are known.

Regards,
-- Al

You see these kinds of posts pop up every once in a while, but you hardly ever hear the "other" side of the story. So I don't know how anyone can give a fair opinion as to what could or should be done.
In any event, I wish you luck and hope things work out for you.

It seems to me if you took it in with what sounds like a small issue and they are trying to deliver it not working at all they owe you a replacement amp or the replacement value. I would not go away without a fight.

Greg

Abruce

You took your Levinson 332 with hum to repair shop. No repair shop can repair your levinson with out the four 50000uF/125V caps and 1900uF/150V regulator caps. These caps are custom made that is why Levison charges over $2K.
Any lower value caps used the amp will blow up. There is a Levinson 332 on audiogon now. The cap replacement was done by me using Cornell caps. Only Cornell Dubilier and United Chemicon makes these caps.

Name the repair shop for the rest of us.
All The Best.