Mark Levinson unveils formidable No 585 integrated amplifier, designed for high resolution audio

What’s in a number? Well if it’s 585, you can take a fair bet that it’s a combination of extraordinary technical design and sonic refinement. The No 585 (pictured above) is the latest high-end integrated amplifier from Mark Levinson by Harman. It’s also the first to feature HARMAN Clari-Fi processing, which applies proprietary signal-enhancement techniques to restore the audio fidelity of compressed music file formats. Distribution is via Karma-AV.

True to form, build quality is substantial, with a heavy-duty chassis and card-cage architecture to isolate low-level analogue and digital circuitry. The aluminium front panel has a two-tone brushed black and textured silver finish, complemented by the company’s characteristic red panel display and LED indicators. Connectivity includes six digital and four analogue inputs including USB, optical, coaxial, AES/EBU XLR and stereo phonos (see below).

It’s a Class AB design which claims to deliver 200 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 350W p/c into 4 ohms. Beneath the hood are separate left and right channel regulated linear power supplies for all the analogue circuitry (pictured). At the heart of the No. 585’s digital audio processing stage is an ESS Sabre 32-bit DAC with proprietary jitter elimination, plus a Cmedia USB audio processor for asynchronous data transfer of DSD and PCM files at up to 32-bit resolution.

Integrators should note there’s a stereo preamp/subwoofer output with a selectable 80Hz high-pass filter for use in 2.1-channel systems. System control can be via Ethernet, RS-232 and 12V triggers. The Mark Levinson No.585 integrated amplifier will retail for £10,500. It’s available from December.

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