Mark Levinson 436 Monoblock Power amplifiers
R94,000.00
IMPORTANT: The Input boards have been replaced and modified to the LATEST model that doesn’t have the well know current and board damaging issues. Specification uprated by a Mark Levenson appointed technician.
This is a very important modification and solves a latent defect in the Levinson 4xx series!!
Of all the gear I’ve had the good fortune to own over the course of the past two-and-ahalf decades, the Mark Levinson Nº 31 Reference CD transport, Nº 35 digital-toanalog converter and Nº 38S preamplifier easily stand out as some of the finest components to grace my listening room. Few will disagree that the Nº 31 was an absolute work of art when it came to both sound and build-quality. (Still makes me grin to think about how incredibly cool it was to show off that motorized lid to all my audiophile buddies.) In combination with the Nº 30 DAC (as well as the more affordable Nº 35), these two stunning pieces made for arguably the best CD playback available at the time.
The Nº 38S was also beautifully crafted, and while it embodied the same kind of sonic sophistication that has been the hallmark of Mark Levinson products since the company’s inception back in the early 70s, I found the preamplifier to be a bit less engaging than expected, and perhaps too polite. It was all-in-all still a nice unit, though, and one that I never had any remorse about buying. The only thing I did regret back in the earlyto mid-90s is that I never completed the system I had worked so hard to assemble with Levinson amplification.
So it was with much anticipation that I awaited the arrival of the Mark Levinson Nº 436 monoblock power amplifier for review. I was also quite excited at the prospect of hearing how these $12,500, 350Wpc brutes would mate with the stellar imaging and accuracy of a loudspeaker like the B&W 800D. Would my decade long wait to finally hear a pair of Levinson amps in my system meet my expectations? At the risk of ruining the ending for those who are actually able to resist reading the conclusion first, I’m afraid I knew the answer to that question nearly straight out of the box, and have heard nothing in the months to follow that would change my mind. The 436 is easily one of the best and most pleasurable amplifiers I’ve had in my system. The 35- year tradition of excellence continues.
One aspect of the Levinson’s performance I did have a change of heart about over time was whether or not this amp was as “laid-back,” as my initial impressions indicated. After first listening with the Focus Master 3 loudspeaker, I paired the 436 with the B&W 800D. While it still didn’t have the fireworks of, say, a Krell amp, the presentation seemed more dependent on the recording than on any inherent characteristic of the amplifier. Another contributing factor could very well have been the more up-front nature of the B&W versus the Focus Master 3. Whatever the reasons, the match between the 436 and 800D seemed particularly good.
Listening to Aaron Neville’s rendition of the Sam Cooke classic “Respect Yourself,” from Bring it on Home…The Soul Classics, [Burgundy Records], the last thing you’d describe this amplifier as being is laid-back. The 436 can crank with the pros. Even at the highest volume levels my ears could tolerate, bass control was absolutely rock-solid. Images were locked in place as well, with no hint of congestion or smearing. The equally impressive midbass was punchy and robust, while vocals were as full-bodied and textured as I’ve heard from this artist.
What I enjoyed most about working these amps hard was that I never felt assaulted afterwards. As contrary as it may sound, there was an overwhelming sense of effortless power that was invigorating yet relaxing at the same time. And I loved the precise definition, tight control, and authoritative dynamic punch in the deep bass as well as the midbass. The 436 seemed to make music “pop” from the loudspeakers. And when you’re talking about making a speaker like the B&W 800D “pop,” that is one special treat, indeed.
Shifting gears a bit, Aaron Neville was certainly fun, but it was Keith Jarrett’s The Carnegie Hall Concert [ECM] that impressed me the most, revealing the true finesse and sophistication of the 436 and its abilities to adeptly draw the listener into the music. Three-dimensionality was sensational. The wall-to-wall spaciousness was infused with a wealth of rich detail that didn’t seem to have a beginning or end, along with images as beautifully sculpted and layered as I’ve heard. Listening to track three, separation was superb; each key-strike of the piano was clear and distinct, effortlessly flowing as if on wings across the space in front of me. The first time I listened to this recording with the Levinson amp, I’ll have to admit to backtracking the Meridian 808 CD player at least a half dozen (or more) times just to verify I wasn’t imagining what I was hearing. This is the closest I’ve felt to recreating the wholeness of a live performance in my listening room. Makes me wish I could have been at Carnegie Hall to actually witness the event.
As seductively and involvingly as the 436 rendered Latin guitarist Jesse Cook’s “Cancibn Triste” on Obsession: New Flamenco Romance [Narada], I never found this amplifier to be too polite. (In my view, excessive politeness can ofttimes equal boring.) Once again, three-dimensionality, resolution of detail, and separation were superb. I also found the violin to be especially natural with nice texture and tonal color. As amplifiers go, I’d give the 436 very high marks for musicality. And listening to old favorite Nickel Creek [Sugar Hill], I’m not ashamed to admit the vocals on “Out of the Woods” brought a tear to my eye. They were absolutely gorgeous—full, natural, and textured— the best I’ve heard on this recording. The robustness and definition of the midbass also deserve another mention, as they added a whole new dimension to the bass fiddle. The detail and pinpoint imaging of the string plucks were also the best I’ve heard on this disc.
It’s tough to find any fault with an amp like the Levinson. In a side-by-side with the McCormack DNA-500 I did find the high frequencies of the 436 to be just a tad soft. This explains my initial impression that the 436 leaned just a bit to the dark side. (Funny thing, though, after listening to this amplifier for just a day or two it doesn’t seem dark at all.) The McCormack actually performed surprisingly well against the 436 and is in my view a top contender at its price point. But the Levinson in pretty much every regard easily justifies its $5000 premium over the DNA-500.
For me, this hobby has always been about connecting to the music. As ruggedly built and aesthetically pleasing as the 436 may be, it would just be another cold hard piece of machinery full of parts without the emotional connection that it provides, and that I believe we all seek. The exceptional performance of this classic Levinson amplifier will surely impress, but it will be the masterful ability of the 436 to engage the listener that earns it a permanent home in your system. If I were a rich woman, I would buy this amplifier in a heartbeat. TAS
All high-end audio companies turn over their product lines periodically. Even those amplifiers I have depended on as references go out of production. Although my reference amplifier can remain a part of the reviewing sequence, readers won’t be able to purchase a discontinued model and get the results I describe. Thus I am compelled to get a review sample of a new amplifier or speaker, and hope for the best.
Such was the case with the Mark Levinson No.334 amplifier (reviewed in September 1999, Vol.22 No.9), which has been my reference dual-mono, solid-state power amplifier for the past four years. I was concerned when Madrigal Audio Laboratories [Harman Specialty Group since July 2003—Ed.] discontinued their entire 300 series of dual-mono amplifiers, but Madrigal’s Kevin Voecks reassured me that they had a suitable replacement in the No.436.
Cool New Design
Up to now, Madrigal Audio Labs has resisted configuring their audiophile amplifiers into more compact chassis, because that would require cooling fans, which could make enough noise to distract the listener. Their Mark Levinson 300-series amplifiers had deep, massive chassis with curved front panels, silver-accented art deco curves, and sharp heatsink fins on each side. Those beautiful bulges and the amps’ convection cooling meant they couldn’t be stuffed into confined spaces.
But the market in high-end audio amplifiers is now driven by the requirements of home theater. Installers and customers favor amps that can be stored in racks in closets. And home-theater systems require odd numbers of channels that don’t match the dual-mono approach of my previous reference, the No.334.
Madrigal has developed the single-channel Mark Levinson No.436—like the rest of its 400 series—as a low, flat, rack-mountable unit. Although the No.436 is as wide as the No.334, it’s 3″ shorter, 2″ deeper, and 24 lbs lighter, while rated to deliver almost three times the power. Madrigal even supplies equipment racks, made specifically for the No.436, that provide conduits for dressing interconnect and speaker cables.
Gone, too, are the No.334’s external heatsink fins. These fins were designed to expose a large area of metal to the air, for the passive dissipation of heat through convection cooling. But additional time and labor, hence cost, were necessary to match the colors of the heatsinks. Switching to internal sinks eliminated this requirement, lowered costs, and made it possible for the No.436 to be housed more compactly.
The No.436’s thermal-management system uses crosscut heatsink extrusions mounted in a tunnel on the side of the chassis and cooled by “whisper” fans. The heatsinks are visible through a 3″ by 10″ rectangular opening in the amplifier’s top panel. A nearby 10″ by 10.25″ meshed screen opening in the top panel over the main circuit boards provides additional ventilation. The low chassis, relatively flat front panel, mesh covering, and internal heatsinks seem more like elements of Japanese design than of a high-end American amplifier.
At lower operating temperatures, the heat differential inside the chassis produces enough of a chimney effect—pulling air up through the chassis—for the fans to remain switched off. At higher temperatures, the fans are turned on by a thermostat, and have a continuously variable speed to keep noise to a minimum. The fans are at the back and front of the heatsink channel; when activated, they blow air toward each other, causing turbulence. This in turn draws cool air into the ¼” space between faceplate and chassis, through the horizontal channels of the heatsink tube, and pushes it out the back of the unit. The airflow streams through the tunnels, isolated from the amplifier circuitry to keep dust from being drawn into the amplifier’s center.
Description
The No.436’s signal-handling and communications are managed from the rear panel. There can be found Madrigal’s custom speaker binding posts, a three-pin balanced XLR input connector, an RCA single-ended input connector, and an IEC AC receptacle for the detachable power cord. For balanced operation, the tiny U-shaped shorting pin connecting pin 1 (signal, ground) to pin 3 (signal, inverting) of the XLR connector—to reduce noise pickup during single-ended operation—must be removed. Other manufacturers, such as Bryston, use a more convenient rear-panel switch for converting from single-ended to balanced inputs. Mark Levinson (and Krell) owners must keep track of these tiny pins, which can disappear quickly into the folds of a carpet if dropped.
The rear panel also has control ports that allow the amplifier to be managed by a central control system. If the amplifier is to be placed inside a cabinet, the 3.5mm minijack can connect to an external infrared receiver module. DC trigger-voltage inputs and outputs are handled by separate 3.5mm minijacks. The six-pin RJ-11, RS-232 port allows the amplifier’s software-controlled operating system to be updated. This port can also be connected to a master control system such as an AMX or Crestron. The No.436 also supports two-way communication with a home automation system via two eight-pin RJ-45, PHAST-compatible ports.
The No.436 shares many design features with the dual-mono amplifiers in Levinson’s 300 series. This includes robust, low-impedance power supplies and balanced circuit technology derived from the Mark Levinson No.33 and No.33H monoblocks. A soft-clipping circuit reduces the audible effects of amplifier clipping or overload. A special turn-on circuit prevents sudden thumps and damage to components from the current inrush as the power supply’s large filter capacitors charge.All sensitive voltage-gain stages are fully balanced and independently regulated. Adaptively biased output stages give the No.436 many of the benefits of class-A operation without its having to dissipate huge amounts of heat. The No.436 includes S-series printed-circuit boards made with Arlon 25N composite, as in the Reference No.32 preamplifier. Arlon 25N gives PCBs a lower, more stable dielectric constant, said to result in better electrical isolation of circuit stages and better sound.The power supply is dominated by a high-capacity (2372VA), low-noise toroidal transformer. Four large, triple-bypassed, low equivalent-series-resistance electrolytic filter capacitors provide a total of 80,000µF of energy storage. Madrigal uses heavy bus bars of oxygen-free copper and high-frequency power-supply bypass components to lower the No.436’s power-supply impedance. Its power supply allows the No.436 to act as a voltage source, doubling the power every time the impedance load is halved—assuming your electrical circuitry will support the current flow. The No.436 can draw 25 amps at 120V from the wall when driving a 2 ohm load to its full power rating of 1400W.The output stage has eight matched, complementary pairs of TO-3P bipolar output power transistors, these clamped to the heatsinks with an aluminum bar. This stage runs at relatively low temperatures due to the wide spacing of output transistors along the current-gain circuit board, and to the internal heatsinks.The No.436 includes extensive protection from internal or external component failure. Fault conditions monitored include the presence of DC at the output, corrected by servos up to ±1V of DC offset. Thermal sensors switch off the No.436 when the heatsink temperature exceeds 85 degrees C. Excessive current draw, such as a short across the speaker terminals, or abnormal AC line voltages—ie, outside the 108-132V range on a 120V line—turns off the amplifier. Other switches, located inside each transformer housing, disconnect power if the transformer overheats. Soft-clip circuits prevent the output devices from saturating, preventing the high-energy, high-frequency ringing artifacts generated by hard-clipped output transistors from reaching and damaging loudspeakers.The No.436 amplifier has Sherman-tank construction, an overkill power supply, and the best components money can buy, and its simpler internal construction has eliminated the time-consuming disassembly required to replace internal components of the 300-series amplifiers (footnote 1) It comes with a five-year, nontransferable warranty, but it’s built to last a lifetime.Setup
My listening area is a lightly damped, 5400ft3 room 26′ long and 13′ wide, with a 12′ semi-cathedral ceiling. One end of the room opens onto a 25′ by 15′ kitchen through an 8′ by 4′ doorway. I set the No.436s behind the speakers, which were placed 5′ from the back wall and 5′ from either side wall. Each amp was placed in the middle of a stack of amplifiers, to approximate a closed-in rack setup. Even so, I never heard the fans come on during my long listening sessions.
I attached the spade lugs for the Pure Silver Cable speaker cable to the No.436s’ speaker binding posts, which are widely spaced to meet the European CE regulations. I tightened the connections between speaker cable and amplifier using the large, curved wing nuts attached to the posts.
The No.436’s turn-on sequence is simpler than the No.334’s. The No.436 has four operating states, and Off. The Power pushbutton, which connects the amplifier to the AC mains, is on the front panel (the No.334’s was on the rear). Pushing this puts the amplifier into Sleep mode and turns on the “small” power supply for its control circuits, and makes the front-panel LED glow steadily but dimly.
The No.436 is put into Standby mode by pressing a larger front-panel button, labeled Standby. This charges the main power supply and stabilizes the amplifier circuits, draws as much as 100W, and makes the front-panel LED blink slowly. After two seconds, or two blinks, a second push of Standby toggles the amplifier into On mode, producing a bright, steady glow from the LED. To put the amplifier back to Sleep, press Standby steadily for two seconds.
Sound
Listening to the No.436 was an unusual pleasure. It provided the same open, detailed, lush, sumptuous, warm sonic signature I associate with the No.334, as well as the same appealing midbass punch and deep-bass management. This bass authority complemented my Quad ESL-989 speakers, opening up their midrange. The No.436s delivered the same punchy, well-defined deep notes through the Revel Salons as when those speakers were driven by the Bryston 14B-SST.
Description
While I can confidently predict that the No.436 will never see this combination of signal and level with music, this behavior did make me wonder if Madrigal’s engineers were merely being overcautious—probably a good idea, given the possibility of the No.436 being used in fit’n’forget custom installations—or hiding something. But such suspicions are undoubtedly unfair.
One thing’s for sure—the No.436 is a powerhouse. When I performed the measurements, my wall voltage was, admittedly, rather high: 126.9V AC, dropping to 123.7V when the amplifier was clipping into 2 ohms. But fig.7 shows that it delivered no less than a continuous 500W into 8 ohms at 1% THD (27.0dBW), 890W into 4 ohms (26.5dBW), and 1.5kW into 2 ohms (25.75dBW). All of these figures are well above the amplifier’s specified powers. Peculiarly, this graph reveals that, at high powers, the No.436 is actually more linear into 4 ohms than it is into 8.
Fig.7 Mark Levinson No.436, distortion (%) vs 1kHz continuous output power into (from bottom to top at 10W): 8 ohms, 4 ohms, 2 ohms.
The Mark Levinson No.436’s measurements reveal it to be a thoroughly modern solid-state amplifier.—John Atkinson
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