Mark Levinson № 585 Integrated Amplifier Preview

Every once in a while, we like to showcase how the other half lives - and by "half" we mean people with more money than they know what to do with. Enter Mark Levinson with components guaranteed to lighten your wallet. The Mark Levinson brand has been pulled under the Harmon Group umbrella as their luxury brand. The № 585 integrated amplifier is their newest offering and is being featured at this year's CES. 

For a long time, high-end brands eschewed digital music as something not worthy of the audiophile. Recently, we've seen more and more high-end manufacturers succumbing to the pressure of their customers and putting out digital products. The Mark Levinson № 585 integrated amp is their answer to the digital "problem".

And quite the answer it is. Sporting 200 watts into 8 ohms and 350 into 4 ohms, the Mark Levinson № 585 has a high-current Class A/B design. Featuring a robust 900VA custom toroidal analog power supply and SMPS digital power supply, the № 585 promises to drive even the most esoteric speakers. Having the power at hand for demanding loudspeakers is a must for audiophile amps as esoteric speakers often present very odd loads that send lesser amps into oscillations. 

The Levinson № 585 is a very attractive piece of equipment with an extruded and machined aluminum front panel and the iconic red panel display and LEDs. It has a heavy-gauge chassis and casework, audiophile-grade internal components, premium rear-panel connectors, custom-machined knobs, controls and structural components and many additional refinements that audiophiles will appreciate. The two-tone color front matches not only previous Levinson offerings but Harman's general color scheme. The angular design is a bit of a departure for the brand but not so different as to alienate potential customers.

While we don't have a picture of the back panel to show you, the № 585 sports six digital inputs including USB, optical, coaxial and AES/EBU XLR. It has 32-bit/192kHz DACs though it is unclear if that is just over USB or for all the digital inputs. Computer audio and DSD are supported over PCM via USB. Analog inputs are promised but not listed so we can't say what it has. 

We were excited to see that Levinson has included a subwoofer output with the № 585 integrated amplifier. It has a selectable 80Hz high-pass filter for a proper 2.1 setup. Custom installers will love the inclusion of Ethernet, RS-232, IR, and 12-volt triggers. The Ethernet is likely only for use in integrating the № 585 into a home automation system and not for streaming content from the Internet. 

Of course, it wouldn't be a Mark Levinson product if it didn't have a price tag to match. At $12,000, the № 585 isn't for the faint of heart or light of wallet. While we wish they had released a few more details about the № 585 integrated amplifier, we'll have to take their word for it that it is worth $12k. One odd inclusion for the № 585 integrated amplifier is Harmon's Signal Doctor processing. This DSP helps "correct" highly compressed content. While we can believe that people dropping a few hundred on a budget receiver have a hard drive full of 128kbps MP3s, we'd hope someone with $12k to spend on an integrated amp would have their content at least encoded at 320kbps.

Conclusion

Mark Levinson's new № 585 integrated amplifier promises the best possible performance for your digital content. It also can be used with analog sources but they didn't let us know how to connect analog sources to it. With 32-bit/192kHz DACs, every possible digital input, and 200 watts per channel, the № 585 is sure to bring you all the sonic bliss your music can provide. It is up to you to decide if it is worth $12,000.

For more information, please visit www.marklevinson.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.