Naim nac 252 vs ML 380/s/326

Yes - Naim is the best

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No feedback on that?

Clearly not

what was the real question behind your initial question?

Mark

Most folks just won't have much familiarity with Levinson gear now days. Once really special but for many years now not so much. In price the closest to the 252 was the Levinson model 32 of several years ago. I haven't heard a 252( I have a 282) but the Levinson was a very clean and clear preamp but not clinical. I can't recall it having any personality and I have to say I home demoed it and it didn't grab me.  Others loved it. The less expensive 380 and 326 are of the same familiy in terms of sound but less transparent. All were very nice but I wouldn't touch any of them. Though Levinson is still in business, they seem to do just enough high end audio to lend cache to their much larger car audio business. Few dealers, fewer products. Their later 3 and 4 series amps are difficult and expensive to repair and Levinson is often of little help. It's personal opinion only but where do you hear about Levinson any more except in audio show reports. There's a reason I think. Certainly, the after purchase support you receive on a 252 will be vastly better than any Levinson. The sound while different will certainly be comparable and a matter of taste.

A year ago I went to a second hand gear dealer.

When I got in, there were a very big Levinson power amp (looked like a chair...) with a Valvet (very "high end" and expensive. I thing from German...)  pre and power supply. They were loading Usher speakers in my size....

well, the reason I was there is to get a nait3 to my working room. Just to see it is well working they connected it to the Ushers for 20 minutes.

Nait3 (for 400$...) was better. I wish I have some pictures of the people in the store. They were staring at the little nait3 and wondering were and how all this sound come out from this thin box. Oh The levinsom was there for sale at 8000$ (Pre loved Before discount). 

I had the chance to listen to Levinsin pre and power, more then once. never understood what is all about. People keep telling me I need to listen to the product they made before the company changed hands (when it was Madrigal...). I don't know. 

I run the 282 at my main system. If I were you I go for the 252 and live long happy life. 

every now and then I come across someone who either owns Mark Levinson gear or aspires too.

Generally speaking they are the sort of people who buy Ferraris but never drive them (ever) and work in securities.

For all I know, ML gear might be fantastic. But they have a very different demographic for their customers. The income bracket of ML and higher end Naim customers might overlap but the similarity stops there.

Interesting that their flagship preamp is a 2 box design called the N.52 though. 

Naimark,

now that you've got the standard replies, I'll try to be helpful. I have experience of just one ML preamp, the ML1 a friend of mine used to have years ago, with a Krell KSA50 power amp into Magneplanars of some sort. Once he took home a ML power amp, but I can't remember which, sorry. Another friend of mine uses a ML334 power amp with a EAR Yoshino pre, into my former Marten Design Miles II speakers.

ML gear has changed a lot over the years, but what I remember distinctly was a unique balance, rarely found in other gear, between smoothness (round voicing, low listening fatigue) and an exceptional ability to resolve inner detail of the music. ML gear is never just smooth: it is competently smooth. My friend's 334 has an exceptional 'field depth', so to say, and is never bright or aggressive while allowing a good degree of insight into the music. You have to love that. ML seems to me to be all about depth, while Naim is all about time. I think my old friend kept his ML1 for years without being able to replace it – the same that happens here with NAC A5, or you name what Naim piece of equipment – until he went for tubes.

In all honesty, I'd say Naim and ML represent the best of two opposite ways of intending home audio. I fear I have no more first hand things to say about it.

Best

M

Max 

Referring to your opening sentence, I think one can and should try to make a point without disparaging the contributions of others.

 Cheers