The foundation of the Nº 5805 is its patent-pending, fully discrete, direct-coupled, dual-monaural line-level preamp circuitry. A single gain stage mated to a digitally controlled resistor network for volume adjustment maintains maximum signal integrity and a wide bandwidth. Each of its three stereo line level inputs — one balanced XLR and two single-ended, using custom Mark Levinson RCA connectors — has its own individual signal switching relays.
Like the 500 series components, the Main Drive headphone output employs a preamp output stage specifically designed with the current and power capacity to drive headphones directly, in Pure Class A, without a separate headphone amp. The № 5805 also includes newly designed MM/MC phono stage with front-panel selectable gain levels and infrasonic filters, and rear-panel capacitive and resistive loading settings.
The Nº 5805 adds digital audio capability through the Mark Levinson Precision-Link II DAC. The latest generation ESS Sabre 32-bit D/A converter with jitter elimination circuitry and a fully balanced, discrete current-to-voltage converter form the heart of the digital audio processing stage. Four digital audio inputs are provided: one coaxial and two optical S/PDIF, and one asynchronous USB for playback of high resolution PCM (up to 192kHz/32 bits) and DSD (up to DSD 5.6) files. A XMOS USB audio processor also decodes and renders MQA-encoded files.
The № 5802 is an all-digital integrated amplifier featuring the same Precision- Link II DAC expanded to six digital audio inputs: One AES, two coaxial and two optical S/PDIF, and one asynchronous USB for playback of high resolution PCM (up to 192kHz/32 bits) and DSD (up to DSD 5.6) files. The Nº 5802 includes MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) technology, which enables play back of MQA audio files and streams. A Bluetooth receiver equipped with AptXHD enables high-quality Bluetooth playback.
Both amplifiers feature fully discrete, direct-coupled, class AB amplifier channels powered from an oversized (500+ VA) toroidal transformer with individual secondary windings for the left and right channels. The voltage gain stage employs a topology directly descended from the Nº 534 amplifier, which is mated to an output stage comprising two high-speed driver transistors operating in class A and six 260V, 15A output transistors.
The Nº5805 and Nº5802 will be available in first quarter 2019 at MSRPs of $8,500 and $7,000 respectively.
For more information, visit marklevinson.com.
