Mark Levinson No. 380S Dual Mono Preamp - Factory Serviced

Free Shipping on *ALL* Electronics (Excluding Speakers, Contiguous 48 US States Only)

General:
Great sounding and rock solid preamp from Mark Levinson.

I had this model for about 10 years and fully enjoyed it. Could find no fault with it. Super transparent, reliable, and a pleasure to use. 

This is the latest and greatest revision which started with the No. 38, moved on to the No. 380 and finalized with the No.380S.

Nice ergonomics, large bright display, and amazing build quality made mostly of machined aluminum. Feels like it’s made from a solid block of steel!

Incredible build quality, design, and component selection.  

Full dual mono internal construction for incredible balance and detailed channel separation. 

The power cord connects to the bottom on the unit so it doesn’t contaminate the signal path. A 90 degree angled power cable is included to keep this simple.

Some of the advanced features include input naming, input gain adjustment, and advanced communication with other ML components.

Has the ability to talk to other ML pieces for ease of use (ML communication cables to enable this functionality are not included).

Comes with a super high-quality remote control and the original very high strength packing box.

Cosmetic Notes:
The first and fourth digit of the display show a bit of a halo around them which can make them appear slightly blurry depending on the ambient lighting in the room. We also noticed some very light scratches on the top cover.

We have printed a paper copy of the original manual.

Technical Notes:
This preamp was serviced by Technetron Electronics in Manhattan in 2019. They replaced a handful of chips and power supply parts along with a large quantity of electrolytic capacitors. This 380s passed all of our bench testing with very good results.

Brand Background:
After working in various recording studios and, as legend has it, creating the sound mixer for the Woodstock Music Festival, Mark Levinson began hand-crafting high-end stereo components. His first product, the LNP-1, was a rack-mounted system with two large VU meters and a high performance op-amp module. And with every subsequent product, the legend grew.

After working in various recording studios and, as legend has it, creating the sound mixer for the Woodstock Music Festival, Mark Levinson began hand-crafting high-end stereo components. His first product, the LNP-1, was a rack-mounted system with two large VU meters and a high performance op-amp module. And with every subsequent product, the legend grew.

Cosmetic Condition:
8/10 = Very Good. Excellent front faceplate, one minor flaw on chassis side or top.. See our detailed rating description here.

Working Condition:
Working perfectly and tested in our lab and listening room.

Included:
Unit, remote, manual and power cord.

Packing:
Original Manufacturers Packing

Link to Manual:
Click Here

Recommended Cables:

Kimber Kable - RCA Interconnects - Better

Kimber Kable - RCA Interconnects - Best

Kimber Kable - BALANCED XLR Connectors - Better

Kimber Kable - BALANCED XLR Connectors - Best

Kimber Kable - Coaxial Digital Interconnect

Kimber Kable - Optical Digital Interconnect

Kimber Kable - Digital AES/EBU (XLR Connector) Interconnect

Kimber Kable - Power Cords - Better

Kimber Kable - Power Cords - Best

We start with a visual inspection of all internal components to make sure that there are no signs of heat stress or damage. Capacitors are checked for telltale signs of predictive failure including bulging, shrunken wrappers, or physical leakage. We also inspect the PCB’s for discoloration from resistors or transistors that may have been running hot. On vintage units we often spot check select capacitors for value and ESR.

When we first power on a preamplifier we connect its RCA output to a Sencore PA81 Power Analyzer which simulates real world loading conditions and gives us an oscilloscope interface. The first order of business is checking that the volume control works smoothly throughout its entire range with acceptable channel balance. This is accomplished by feeding a 1KHz sine wave into one of the preamp’s line level inputs while monitoring the preamp’s output on an oscilloscope. We then switch to a 1KHz square wave to test the tone controls, loudness function, and filters where applicable. During this step we are watching for equal alteration of the test signal by both channels. This also helps us identify dirty controls that will need treatment. Once the basic line stage functions are verified, we test each input individually. This is especially important for devices that use relays to select their sources. If the preamp is equipped with a phono stage we test that as well. We use an inverse RIAA filter which allows us to feed a reference test signal into the phono input with the proper RIAA equalization and level. A square wave or sine sweep is used to verify that the device’s phono stage is faithfully reproducing the RIAA curve. If the preamp under test has balanced inputs and/or outputs these are tested as well.

We finish up our bench testing with a listening test with our bench amplifier and reference speakers. During this test we check for hum or hiss that may not have shown up in earlier testing. We also check that all of the tone controls and filters perform as expected. If the preamplifier has remote control functions these are also tested. Preamps with tube circuits or complicated power supply topologies are connected at our long term test rig for extended stress testing under real world conditions.