Mark Levinson
Mark Levinson Audio Systems was founded in 1972 in Woodbridge, Connecticut, near New Haven. Its first product, the LNP-2 preamplifier, was developed with Dick Burwen, and early designs came from John Curl under Levinson's supervision. The ML-2, a 25-watt class A mono amplifier, became one of the defining high-end amplifiers of its era.
Creditors forced the company into bankruptcy in October 1984. Madrigal Audio Laboratories bought its equipment, inventory and the right to the name, and Harman International has owned the brand since 1995; it now sits within Samsung, Harman's parent. Since 2001 the name has also appeared on car audio systems in Lexus and Toyota models.
These are solid-state designs, not tube amplifiers, but the original magazine filed them alongside the classics. The archive has the No. 28 preamplifier and the No. 331 power amplifier.
1972 saw the introduction of Mark Levinson’s JC-1 preamplifier — a concrete, functional symbol of Mark Levinson’s approach to audio reproduction. With a signature blending of vision and science, it was the beginning of a series of groundbreaking audio components that reinforced America’s reputation in high end audio design. Today, more than three decades after the company’s inception, Mark Levinson continues to expand the horizons of audiophiles at home and on the road as well as those of home theater enthusiasts with components and systems that define accuracy, reliability, and enjoyment.
