The physical and sonic properties of the
Nº432 and Nº431 are built upon the Mark
Levinson power amplifier tradition. The
power supply is the foundation that all of the
audio circuitry is built upon. Each channel
benefits from a massive, dedicated, independ-
ent linear power supply. Our listening tests
continue to confirm that abundant clean
power is essential for high performance.
Precise control of this power reserve is the
task of the power amplifier’s voltage gain and
output stage circuitry. Mark Levinson power
amplifiers have always featured precision
circuitry designed to fully exploit balanced
signals. Rather than simply duplicate circuit-
ry for both halves of the balanced input signal
as many power amplifiers do, our power
amplifiers have featured an advanced topolo-
gy for greater efficiency, performance and
sonic benefits. The Nº432 and Nº431 contin-
ue this practice. Though similar to the
Voltage Gain circuit in the 300 series power
amplifierss that they replace, this new genera-
tion of power amplifiers features a more
elegant topology closely related to the Nº436
and Nº434 mono power amplifiers.
As with all Mark Levinson power amplifiers,
particular attention is paid to the layout of
circuitry and precise location and routing of
connections. All circuit board layout is
performed by our engineers rather than by a
computer program. These new power ampli-
fiers outperform their predecessors in part
because of the refinement of circuit layout.
Additionally, the ultra-high performance parts
that make up our balanced circuits are able to
work to their full potential because they
reside in the most neutral circuit board mate-
rial we know of: Arlon®. The matched output
transistors continue to be the best performing
parts available for this application and they
are mounted directly to the exposed internal
black anodized aluminum heat sinks.
The Nº432 and Nº431 carry on the Mark
Levinson tradition of combining brute force
with finesse while avoiding the common
mistake of imparting their own fingerprint on
the sound. They are welcome additions to
the impressive Nº436 and Nº434 mono
power amplifiers and worthy successors to
the 300 series. The Nº432 and Nº431 are
capable of providing remarkable performance
to provide years of listening enjoyment.
Nº431
