Mark Levinson No 523 Preamplifier with Phono

Mint condition with original double box packaging and accessories. Buyer pays PayPal fees and shipping. Mark Levinson No.523 is fully balanced from input to output, direct-coupled, and in key areas employs military-spec thin-film or tantalum-nitride resistors. Its left- and right-channel signal paths are fully discrete, mirror-imaged, and dual-monophonic. It has high-linearity switches for each of its six analog inputs (two XLR and four RCA, the latter including one phono input). The Offset function in the setup menu lets the user match the volume level of each input to the others. Harman calls the No.523's signal path Pure Path, a term used throughout the Mark Levinson line to describe their combination of Folded Cascode circuit topology—built with junction field-effect transistors (JFETs) and bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)—with a fully balanced, dual-mono, and ultimately direct-coupled signal path, intended to achieve high gain, low noise, wide bandwidth, and excellent linearity. It uses R-2R ladder volume control instead of a traditional potentiometer, relays select different combinations of resistors so that the volume can be adjusted in precise increments of 0.1dB from 0 to –70dB. The No.526's phono stage has discrete components and operates exclusively in class-A. Designed for optimal flexibility, it allows the user to select between settings for moving-magnet or moving-coil cartridges, the former offering five capacitive load settings and the latter offering three gain levels and ten resistive load settings. Also offered is an infrasonic filter switch, to reduce the audible effects of record warps and turntable rumble. No.523 also has a Class-A main drive headphone output for up to 32-ohm headphones using main circuit. Finally, all but the phono input, can be set for theater bypass for use in surround sound systems. “Its phono stage is the best I've heard in my listening room, providing a fullness of instrumental timbres from my LPs that was palpable, and its comprehensive set-up menu let me fine-tune its sound. - Is a preamplifier to die for. Strongly recommended, and without reservation.” Stereophile Magazine "When I played the direct-to-disc The Sheffield Track Record: Rock Instrumental Tracks for Audio Component Testing and Evaluation (LP, Sheffield Lab 20), I was stunned by the sledgehammer dynamics and freight-train sense of drive. Still, I thought, it might be a fluke—so I put on another Sheffield D2D recording, Dave Grusin's Discovered Again (LP, Sheffield Lab 5), and heard the same dynamics. Grusin's "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow" was incredibly tight, full of driving piano chords strung together by a palpable bass line that couldn't be stopped.” Stereophile Magazine At Kyomi Audio we encourage you to enjoy the best high end music reproduction system from a small, carefully selected band of manufacturers. We can assist you in bringing the concert hall in your listening room! You are cordially invited to audition our reference systems by appointment, seven days a week. We are authorized dealers for: Acoustic Signature, Artesania, Chord, GamuT, Graham Engineering, Gryphon, Helius Designs, Jadis, Koetsu, Lumin, Magnan Cables, Marten, MBL, MySonic Lab, Merging Technologies, Ortofon, Pear Audio, Spendor, Stealth Audio, Tri-Planar, TechDas, Vivid Audio, Wireworld, and others. www.kyomiaudio.com tel: 3125132759