Mark Levinson No.383 Integrated Solid State Stereo Amplifier

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This is an early 2000's vintage piece from Mark Levinson and one of their earliest integrated amplifiers.  

As you probably know an integrated amplifier is essentially two units in the same box.  A preamp and an amplifier.  It allows you to get very similar performance as separates, but at a quite a cost reduction, since both the preamp and the amplifier will share the power supply and chassis and a lot of the circuity.  So it's a great way to get into a Mark Levinson piece without spending $10,000.

This particular integrated is rated at 100W per channel, but on our test bench we saw about 10-15% higher than that figure with no trouble.

It has some pretty nice features including the ability to name the inputs.  There is no phono section inside this unit, so you will need a separate phono preamp if you want to connect a turntable.

Continuing with the controls, there is an intensity control for dimming the display so it doesn't keep you up at night, and a setup button that lets you name inputs and gain and all sorts of parameters.  There's a balance control, volume attenuator for combined left and right channels, and a mute button.

It has a power button for its main power supply and then a separate standby button to put it into a sort of sleep mode.  That way the critical audio circuity stays engaged and warmed up while turning off the outputs and the display.  

On the back it's got some really nice handles which are most helpful as this weighs about 80 lbs.

For speaker connectors it has pretty unique wing nuts that I've only seen on Mark Levinson gear.  Really nice and easy to put some good torque on spade lug connectors.  If you want to use bananas, you'll have to use an adapter, so I strongly suggest a speaker cable with a spade lug.

Moving down we see two sets of balanced inputs which is generous for a preamp of this price range, and then three additional single ended RCA inputs for connecting other equipment like a phono preamp, CD player, or maybe a Sonos connect.  There's some communication connections for a home automation system like Savant or Crestron, and some control ports for other Mark Levinson gear (possibly a DAC or CD player).  Plus triggers for turning things on and off remotely and an infrared input in case you want to put this away in a cabinet.  It has a removable power cord and is a 110V 60Hz unit.

The top cover is in very nice shape, don't see anything significantly wrong with it, the front faceplate is also in good shape, maybe a 7/10 for some light scuff(s) visible in the photos.  The heat sinks are in anodized black and some of the heat sinks from Mark Levinson from this area tended to turn to a dark purple over time.  Sort of a fading/chemical reaction between the aluminum and the anodizing.  So this sample is certainly presentable, but it does have some purplish tone to the heatsinks.  I imagine that once you put this in a cabinet or on a shelf you probably will not notice.  So it's in farily good condition but not perfect.

Performance wise it's spot on.  We tested this for a few hours at it's full power, and it clips nicely and gently and protects itself from damage.  Total harmonic distortion was within acceptable limits, and all the knobs and switches are quiet and noise free.  This means it's in tip top operating shape.  The remote is also in fairly good shape and fits nicely in your hand.  It's a really nice feeling remote, controls just about everything on the front panel, and heavy.  Probably made out of cast aluminum.

We don't have the printed owners manual but you can download it online. And we have an amazing packing process that ensures this arrives at your home safely and in once piece. 

Includes Integrated Amp, Remote, and Power Cables.

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