Price Paid:  $30000.00 from Dewey, Screwu & Howe

Summary:
Bought these amps home. First impression: looks like desktop computer tower case. Argh! Very heavy; use a forklift if possible. Hooked them to my very detailed and musical Cerwin Vega Orange Speakers. Tried out my special reserve of audiophile revealing CD's & LP's. CD's used were Madonna's first album (lots of dance room feeling); Duran Duran (Simon Lebon has an amazing voice that tells about about a speaker's mid range); Ozzy Osborne (really shows the treble in Ozzy's voice) Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" (really sounds like music) and Chandos "Rimsky Korsakov Opera Suites" (really close to what a symphony orchestra sounds like). LP's used were "Saturday Night Live Soundtrack" (you can almost hear Travolta moving); Iron Butterfly "In A Gadda Da Vida" (real test of rock drums and electric guitar); Donnie an Marie Osmond "Live at the Republican Convention" (great for mixed male and female voices); Dave Brubeck "Take Five" (that sax kills me) and Mahler's "Symphony No. 8 - Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra" Deca Records (lets see equipment keep up with a thousand musicians).

Okay...After listening to the ML for a week started to notice interesting things in the music I didn't hear before. Like in Iron Butterfly's "In A Gadda Da Vida" you could hear the drummer taking a puff of something just before his solo. Eerie! And the weird part is that you could hear him exhalling after his solo was over. The drums sounded big and round, like he was really playing on some caveman period skins. Organ? It sounded just like the organ in Phantom of the Paradise or some monstrous Bach Tocatta. Just blew me away. Decided to try voices. Put on Donnie and Marie. You could hear Marie's voice and Donnie's voice blending beautifully and smooth. No grit, grain or strain here, just smooth music. Okay, let's try the ML on Classical. Put the RK "Mlada" disc on. Unbelievable, I always thought the trumpets in the "Procession of the Nobles" was really a clarinet! There was so much air around the instruments that you thought the stage was somewhere located 5 stories above you. And the soundstage was huge! I'm talking football field length depth.

Okay, so now I hooked my old 60's Radio Shack receiver to my speakers. And you know what? There wasn't much difference in the sound. Sure, the Radio Shack didn't have as much (hot) air around the instruments. But I could get several dozen of them and outfit my home and my relative's friend's homes. It's a very close call, but I have to give the ML the edge on this comparro.

Strengths:
Good sound; air, air, and lots of air; kind of a warm, fuzzy, musical, hot cocoa sound. Makes a great set of end tables if you don't have any.

Weaknesses:
Electricity bill

Similar Products Used:
Heavenly Host Audio
Nirvana Engineering
Corpus Cristi Revelations Audo
Shintobokukannka Amps

Price Paid:  $37000.00 from High Fidelity, Inc (

Summary:
These are huge, visually awe-inspiring amplifiers: about 3’ tall, 3’ deep, 1’ wide, and 375 pounds apiece! I find them very attractive, and more easily moved than many other large amps thanks to casters built into their feet.

I wish I had known 8 years ago when Madrigal introduced these amplifiers just how incredibly good they were, because they make the No.333, which I purchased and later updated to No.333.5 status, sound woefully inept. The No.33s allow me to hear every detail and musical nuance present in my recordings. The usual sense of listening through electronics is almost entirely removed, and replaced by a stunning illusion of hearing live music in real space. All noteworthy aspects of amplifier performance (dynamics, extension, imaging, resolution, etc.) are impeccable, but they would mean nothing if they weren’t all blended in just the right way to best serve the music. I love these amps. They are classics in the best sense.

Associated equipment: Magnepan MG20.1 loudspeakers, Mark Levinson No. 31.5 transport, No.360s DAC, No.32 preamp, SOTA Star Sapphire, SME V, Sumiko “Sho”, Magnum Dynalab “Etude”, Cardas “Golden Reference” (IC & SC), ASC “Tube Traps”, RPG Abfusors & Diffusers

Strengths:
Sonically invisible, musically inviting, structurally handsome

Weaknesses:
It takes 3 people to uncrate them

Similar Products Used:
Mark Levinson No.333.5, Jeff Rowland Model 7s, Threshold S500 II, Audio Research Classic 150s, ARC & VTL M300s, Conrad Johnson MV50

Price Paid:  $17000.00 from used

Summary:
I've tried to stay away for "audio sites" as they only seem to stimulate my desire to more "stuff" I don't need. But I finally gave in to my curiosity and started looking around the net. Eventually I discovered this site and found these so called reviews. OK, I'll put my two pennies worth in... What a mixed bag of insight and crap! The ones who are critical of the 33s seem to be pissed off because they can't afford them. I suspect they are the same people who key a BMW because they don't own one.

Well, I can't really afford 33s either, so I searched around, found a slightly used pair, bought them, and have been happy every since! My system is all Levinson (33s, 360S, 380s, 37) with all Transparent cable and a pair of Magnapan MG20s and a Mirage sub. I know what you're thinking! Maggies with those amps? Hey, if you haven't heard it don't knock it. Personally I love the sound of Maggies (this is my fourth pair in over 20 years). But, they do have one draw back... they seem to lack dynamics and this is the problem I was having before the 33s came along. Fact is, all Maggies love raw power and plenty of it. I had been running them using a 120 pound monster made by a very well know manufacturer and rated at 350 watts into 8 ohms, but it just wasn't making it for me. The system sounded wimpy with no drive and snap. I suspected the problem was that the speakers wanted more juice than the amp could deliver and I was right. After buying the 33s, hooking them up and turning them on it took me about 2 seconds to realize what a great pair of amps they are. All of a sudden the entire room seemed to come alive. The system had all the dynamics of a fine "box" speaker with all the delicacy of the ribbons. What a sound! If you will forgive my towering immodesty, I think it is the best sound I've every heard and that includes a pair of 33s driving Wilson Grand Slams. They may play louder, but the Maggies are much more musical and its the 33s who allow them to really sing. I could go on and on but what's the point. If you want the ultimate in a power amp and want to be able to drive any speaker at live volumes reproducing the most perfect sound you have every heard then these are the amps to have. Now it's time to search of a sub woofer upgrade....

Strengths:
Near perfect sound

Weaknesses:
A real chore to move!

Similar Products Used:
Cello Amp

Summary:
To those guy who hold a reserved and critical view of this amp, I suggest them not to be prejudiced of its costly price but pay more attention on the sound it reproduces. Surely it is the most 'characterless' amp I have ever heard because what you hear is the mixture of sound reproduced by the front source, like CD, Pre-amp, even the interconnect.

Mark 33 really deserves the 'reference' quality by virtue of its capability of revealing even a small breath made by the instrumentalist in the recording, the drum kit in Jazz could sould as if the feeling of 'you are there', forget any sort of description about this amp because it just reflects what intention of record producers or timbre of instrument. Its colorless, transparent, neutral, well-tuned, fast, well-extended bass and treble set a benchmark which other counterparts must be measured against it. Any difference or subtle change could immediately be recognised without difficulty.

I know that the eloquence of my comment really depends on what sorts of other equipment you use, well I would suggest Mark No32 as pre-amp in order to derive the best of this stunning power-thrilling monster. The new Ayre DVD player or Madrigal transport+Theta Pro Generation Va(24 bit/96Khz) might be the more ideal partner of Digital source.
Speaker? Thiel, Audio Physic and Eggleston Works could be more suitable in this aspect, right now I'm using 33 to drive my Thiel 7.0 ( Madrigal Design Team uses it as a design tool)which give me just the music(or recording itself)without adding coloration or degrading the sound quality. However it could be too forward of its image and prespective, someone might dislike it. As a fans of Classical and Jazz, it just gives me pleasure and suprise since I listen more inner details, more harmonic dispersion, more dynamic from the records which I never ever experienced.

The drawback it has include the substantial consumption on electricity, also your listening space must be at least 600 square ft in order to accomodate such a powerful sound. All in all, it has been an immaculate and superb power amp I have ever owned in the aspect of sound quality, ambience and other hi-end essentials.

Summary:
First of all, I'd like to clear of two reviews done here. To the gentlemen who put down American cars... do you realize that the Corvette is the best bang for buck and out performs 99% of European cars, and for the last 1% we have the Viper. Say no more. Now to the guy who compared these amps to a Vette, give your head a shake. If you could afford a Vette, you'd be singing a different tune about this amp. They're overpriced but they do set a standard and make a statement. They belong to an elite performance class. If you want a car comparison, well, it's like owning a Ferrari F50. Sure there is way cheaper that can perform as well or slighty better, but which do you prefer to drive/listen because you can?