Mark Levinson's new No. 53 amp is 20 better than predecessor
When most of us think of "high end" gear, we picture shiny tech that we might be able to afford if we got lucky in Vegas. But there's a whole other level of expensive gadgetry that schleps like us can't even begin to fathom; ironically, the closest we ever get to this gear is in Vegas during CES. Case in point: Mark Levinson's new No. 53 monoblock amplifier. This replacement of the company's top of the line No. 33 amp introduces Interleaved Power Technology (IPT), its foray into the world of digital amplification. That's right -- the old saw about digital amps being inferior is giving way, albeit slowly. And in this case, at a unspeakably-high price point. So if you're sitting on a pair of No. 33s, best put them up on eBay in preparation for the No. 53's summer availability; this new model is said to outperform anything the marque has done before. Our friends at CE Pro were mightily impressed, but these babies might as well be milled out of a solid block of unobtanium for us (you know, to tame resonances).
