I was fascinated with music a long, long time before I ever heard a Hi-Fi system, as I am sure most of you were. In my mind the two are inextricably linked. I see audio equipment as a way of bringing music into the home, and that's about it. If it doesn't make music, and so much of it doesn't, then I am just not interested in it, no matter who makes it or where, how welt it is built, what lifestyle statement it makes, how it measures when connected to a machine as opposed to an ear, what it costs or what reviewer wets himself over it. Past encounters with American products in particular, had not been particularly musically rewarding and, up until a couple of years ago, my attitude could generally have been summed up as overpriced, over-hyped and over here.

But then things began to change. I began hearing some striking music coming from equipment like Wilson speakers, Jeff Rowland amplification, Mark Levinson Compact Disc players, and a few others, all of which made me sit up and take notice. Perhaps the Yanks were getting it together at last. They were, and as living proof of this let me introduce you to the Mark Levinson No 39 CD Processor. If you have any doubts as to the value, musically or financially of American high-end equipment this machine will change your mind. I guarantee it.

Shortly after Madrigal Audio Laboratories took over the company several years ago, Mark Levinson himself left to design and produce Cello products, leaving only his name and a reputation for expensive but superbly built high end amplification. Madrigal, being a subsidiary of Harman International, and thus having enormous financial resources to draw upon, went on to design a whole range of audio electronics, that despite an initially confusing nomenclature, can truly be described as high-end in terms of performance, build quality and most certainly price. There are currently two preamplifiers, five amplification systems and three CD players of which the No 39 is the cheapest at £4995, while the most expensive is an extraordinary three box design, the 31.5 transport and 30.5 processor/power supply which offers no change from £25,000.

The No39, to my eyes looks fabulous and has a build quality to match. The design and solid construction described by Madrigal themselves as industrial, is as good as any component I have ever used, and a lot better than most of them. The thick aluminium faceplate, logically laid out with bead blasted push buttons, and the 1/8th inch thick solid aluminium disc drawer do make the No 39 a joy to use, but give little indication of the stunning versatility of the machine.

CD player, CD transport, digital processor and pre-amplifier are all roles that the No39 can fill at the touch of a button. Operating as a straight integrated CD player it will output an analogue signal, balanced or single ended, straight into a preamplifier. As a transport it can be used with a separate processor via its digital output stages (XLR or RCA), or it can act as a separate processor itself, accepting two external digital inputs through optical or RCA connectors. It can switch between both these inputs by becoming a preamplifier capable of driving single ended or balanced leads straight into a suitable power amplifier.

Switching for these operational states is made through the suitably robust (industrial remote control, via the mode switch, which along with many other features allows the No 39 to be switched from fixed to variable output. Nothing new in that is you might think, except that just about every other player I have used in this way has sounded really rather horrible. Thin and hard are two words which spring to mind. But this is no ordinary volume pot, stuck on as an after-thought, but rather the same analogue device as fitted to the 380 and 380S preamplifiers. This means that if sounds great and offers controlled volume settings in 0.1dB increments. I have never used a volume control with such fine resolution and quite frankly it makes all others seem somewhat crude and coarse. The balance control too offers the same fine level of adjustment. To be able to set the volume exactly right for any situation, especially late night listening, is something that I didn't realise how much I had missed until now.

The useable versatility of the No 39 is remarkable, and so are some of its features. It does of course offer basic programming of discs, with unwanted tracks simply being deleted. But it also offers custom playlists for thousands of discs which enables you to program a CD and store the list so the next time that disc is placed in the drawer, the No 39 reads the serial number and defaults straight to the previously programmed tracks. This even extends as far as being able to invert the polarity of the whole disc or individual tracks. Polarity inversion is an interesting feature, and one that MLAS see as important enough to include on all their electronics. Their argument that the likelihood of normal polarity being maintained throughout the recording process is unlikely for every disc is one that I agree with, and there is no doubt that some discs do sonically benefit from inverting the polarity. Others show no improvement, and in certain cases it is hard to hear a difference at all. I could personally live without it, but it is somehow in keeping with the Mark Levinson way of doing things.

All mode menus and other information are viewable on the excellent red display which itself can be scrolled through three levels of brightness or left off altogether. It shows times, both elapsed and remaining, by track or disc, although when using the No 39 in variable output mode it shows volume levels as soon as these buttons are touched on the remote control.

There was a time when a machine boasting as many features as this would inevitably fall down when it came to the most important performance parameter of all. Back in the days when analogue was king, simplicity was the way to go. Excessive switching, displays and even remote controls were all seen to be no-no's capable of corrupting the precious musical signal in a single bound. But no more. The Mark Levinson No39 shows that you can indeed have it all, as its sound quality is absolutely superb. But let's start at the beginning.

Burn in is totally critical. Madrigal claim that 300 hours is the requisite time. I would say it will carry on improving for a month, at least, and quite probably longer. Listen to it straight from its box and it will disappoint by sounding constricted and rhythmically inert. All this changes though, as the tonal balance evens out and the machine begins to stretch its legs. A fully run-in No39 is a very sweet sounding device indeed, with an ear opening sense of musical perspectives. Dynamically it is excellent, without ever sounding forced or over compressed. It has tremendous separation of instruments and shows levels of instrumental detail that had been missing from CD replay up until relatively recently. All aspects of its performance are polished and to the point, but where it really scores is in its overall presentation, the way that it can gather up many musical threads and pull them together to make a performance. Its ability to produce the goods in this way is in some sense related to the presentation of these elements. Within the right system the No 39 creates a stereo image to die for. Even if, like me, you have never considered this to be of great importance there is something totally seductive about the way this CD player stretches a huge and wonderfully tangible soundstage across the room, beyond the width of the speakers and far behind them. It is stunningly stable too, effortlessly detailed, three dimensional and totally addictive.

Despite being a big Joni Mitchell fan, I must confess to initially having a problem with her most recent album Taming The Tiger (Reprise 9362-46451-2). Its instrumental framework at first seemed to me very monochromatic and dynamically restrained. The No 39 tells me that everything is relative, and shows the whole album to be a musical painting, the chorused guitar, played by Joni with its strange tunings coupled with her unique right hand technique, is exposed as a backdrop of textures, an ebb and flow of slowly moving colour over which she weaves her vocal spell. The languid tempos too, some unguided by percussion, were really excellently unfolded, and this is what I mean by a musical performance. The music itself has a 'feel' and a message, but its beauty is to be found in the small variations of shade rather than dynamic splurges of sound.

Al Di Meola's latest offering The Infinite Desire (Telarc 83433) shows what the No 39 can do when confronted with music of almost unrivalled multitracked complexity. Al, a stringer of formidable technical ability and a producer and composer unwilling to use one guitar track when he could use ten, has produced what is, to me, his most interesting piece of work for a while. The sheer scale and ambitious proportion of musical interplay in some of the songs will leave your head spinning, and though some of it seems to be musicianship just for the sake of it, there is a degree of musical technique and playing ability from all involved that is mind blowing. On most CD players it would, I suspect, be difficult to make if through more than a couple of tracks and you could quite easily write it off as just some American guitar freak playing his brains out. If you listened on a Mark Levinson No39 you would change your mind. Opening up the structure of music like this is within the capabilities of few pieces of audio equipment. You need detail, the more the better. You need transient ability; you need a realistic approach to tonality (overbright or thin sounding machines should avoid this disc); and you need space for it to all happen. This is the Levinson's forte, as it sorts out the action, locating instruments and all their associated studio paraphernalia in a totally accessible way without ever becoming over clinical.

As you have probably gathered I think the Mark Levinson No39 is a hell of a machine. It is fabulously built, operates like a dream, is extraordinarily versatile and best of all is totally 'simpatico' with the music. If you want a player of this class I would say that at £4995 it is almost a bargain.

What's Inside And What I Hooked It Up With.
The No 39 retrieves data from the disc via a 2X industrial CD-ROM mechanism and uses two D to A converters per channel in opposing polarity The digital filter is the Pacific Microsonics PMD-100 (also used by Naim in the CDS11). This 8X digital filter allows 24-bit throughput though the digital information is dithered down to 20 bit, prior to conversion to match the resolution of the converters. The filter also allows for the use of HDCD discs.

A word or two about systems might be a good idea. I used the No 39 with other Mark Levinson products, the No 380 preamplifier and the No 331 power amplifier, and the Platinum Duos were sited on Target HJ stands. A degree of synergy between the electronics might be expected here, and this was the case, as the system functioned quite beautifully as a whole. Comparisons between the No 39 being used with the 380 preamplifier and as a stand-alone machine were interesting. If you only use Compact Disc as a source you should seriously consider hooking a No 39 into a power amp. This two box system has its attractions, though bear in mind that you will be unable to use any external sources unless they have digital outputs, such as a separate CD transport, a laser disc or, for the future, a digital radio receiver. If you can manage this you will save yourself the several thousand pounds that a suitable preamplifier would cost. Used in this configuration the No 39 works extremely well, but it ultimately lacks the full-blooded drive and power that you get with the addition of a high quality preamplifier like the No 380 (£3995), or better still the superior and very tasty No 380 (£6500). Nevertheless it should not be discounted, and is an excellent stepping stone into what is a superb range of electronics. Musical satisfaction guaranteed.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Product Type; CD Player and digital processor with input switching and variable output
Inputs; 2 X Digital (one optical, one RCA phono)
Outputs; 2 X Digital (one RCA phono, one AES/EBU balanced); 2 X Analogue (One pair RCA phonos, One pair balanced XLR)
Dimensions (w,d,h); 400mm x 363mm x 97.5mm
Shipping Weight; 22.75kg, (50lbs)
Price £4995.00

Manufacturer
Mark Levinson Audio Systems
Net. www.madrigal.com/madrigal/marklev

Distributor
Path Premiere
Tel. (44)(0) 1494-441736
Fax. (44)(0) 1494-461209
Email: premier at path.co.uk

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