Overview
If we were to create a grouping of extraordinary products, the Mark Levinson No.32 will feature highly in that grouping. With its hefty price tag of $18,000, it certainly caught everyone’s attention but once you settle down to listen to it, you would be thinking of the No.32 as the halo of preamps. And by then, you would find some parity in the quality of sound and its price tag.
Unlike many other reference tube preamps, the No.32 is all about precision. Portraying each instrument, each vocals and every note with exact precision as if it is the transmission device from a recording studio straight into your listening room. The amount of details coming through is simply amazing. Even the tiniest “ting” of a pin is extracted through the No.32. If you are overly familiar with tube preamps, you might initially dislike its clinical precision but give it time and you will forget the warm sunshine of tube preamps and adore the amount of information you are getting from it that were missing from your preamp. Which is why, this preamp is slowly creeping up in value as they become harder to find and appreciation for it goes up. Built quality of this preamp is just plain “brutish”. Lots of steel, lots of weight and lots of clean cut lines. The weight of this preamp (almost 110lbs) will just about crush many power amps out there.
Cosmetically, there are some minor scuff marks here and there that are common with use but is in pretty good shape overall. This is a line only preamp. Phono module was a $3,000 option but previous owner is a CD only audiophile so he never had that installed. We have the original remote, manual and boxes. Shipping is in two boxes so multiply by two for actual shipping costs.
