Предусилители — Mark Levinson № 5206

The № 5206 is a stereo preamplifier from Mark Levinson that houses a line stage, an MM and MC phono section, a DAC and a headphone amplifier together. The maker describes it as derived from the Pure Path design approach of its № 500 series, intended to offer that performance at a lower cost. Its American maker handles design and precision assembly of the № 5206 at home in the USA.

Key specs that matter

Analog connections are two balanced XLR line inputs, two single-ended RCA line inputs, one RCA pair for moving-magnet phono and one for moving-coil, with a single outgoing pair on each of XLR and RCA. Six digital inputs cover one AES/EBU, two coaxial, two optical and one asynchronous USB port, which accepts PCM up to 32 bit and 384 kHz and DSD up to 11.2 MHz. MQA decoding and a Bluetooth receiver with aptX HD are built in. Line stage gain is 8 dB single-ended and 14 dB balanced, with output overload above 7.5 V and 15 V RMS respectively. Line response runs from under 2 Hz to 250 kHz within +0.1/-3 dB, THD stays under 0.003% from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, and wideband unweighted signal-to-noise exceeds 93 dB. The unit measures 438 x 126 x 457 mm and weighs 15.4 kg.

Engineering and use context

This line section is fully discrete, direct-coupled, dual-monaural and runs in class A. A single gain stage feeds a digitally controlled resistor network for volume, and each line input has its own signal-switching relay. The phono section uses a hybrid gain topology with discrete parts taken from the № 500 series Pure Phono stage and a hybrid active and passive RIAA equalizer with precision resistors and polypropylene capacitors. MM gain is 39 dB with 47 kOhm input resistance and selectable 20 to 170 pF loading, while MC gain is 69 dB with resistance selectable from 37 to 1000 Ohm. A 20 Hz infrasonic filter and an 80 Hz second-order subwoofer high-pass filter are selectable. The Precision Link II converter uses an ESS Sabre Pro 32-bit chip with jitter elimination and a discrete balanced current-to-voltage stage. The MainDrive headphone output takes its signal from a preamp output stage built to drive headphones directly. Power draw is 70 W when on and under 0.4 W in Green standby.

Pairing

Control options include Ethernet, USB, RS-232, an IR input and a programmable 12 V trigger in each direction, while a built-in web page handles setup and firmware updates from a PC browser. The front panel is 25 mm thick bead-blasted black anodized aluminium around a glass display, and a solid aluminium IR remote is supplied.

Alternatives

The Mark Levinson № 526 is a dual-monaural preamplifier with its own phono stage and ESS Sabre DAC, adding a third single-ended line input and a discrete R-2R ladder volume control.