Harman’s Mark Levinson previewed the forthcoming 526 Dual-Monaural Preamplifier last week. The 526 combines five line-level analog, MM/MC phono, and six digital inputs with the Mark Levinson DAC and Harman Clari-Fi music restoration tech in a single package featuring Mark Levinson proprietary system design and a 6000-series aluminum chassis.
“With the Mark Levinson 526, music lovers can enjoy the best possible sound from all of their music, whether listening to their treasured LP collection, discovering new music using streaming services, or enjoying high-resolution digital music,” said Jim Garrett, director of marketing and product management, Harman. “The 526 delivers the ultra high-end sound quality and faithfulness to the music that every Mark Levinson product is renowned for, in a component that is forward-looking and complete.”
The 526 can accommodate all analog and digital music sources. The phono stage houses a low-output moving-coil as well as moving-magnet cartridges and has selectable gain and resistive and capacitive loading settings as well as a selectable high-pass filter for reducing infrasonic rumble. The 526 also has two balanced analog and three single-ended analog audio inputs. The Mark Levinson 526 offers high-resolution digital decoding up to 24-bit, 192kHz from PCM and double-speed DSD. Its DAC incorporates an ESS Sabre32 Reference converter. Six digital audio inputs including asynchronous USB, AES/EBU balanced, Toslink optical and coaxial unbalanced feed the digital signal path. For listeners whose libraries contain older or lower resolution content, the 519 contains Harman Clari-Fi music restoration technology, which rebuilds musicality and detail lost in the compression process.
The 526 provides both balanced and single-ended analog outputs, which can be configured with optional low-pass filtering for integration of subwoofers.
The 526 can be operated from its front panel, included remote control and via a range of system integration connections. Like all Mark Levinson products, the 526 is designed and handcrafted in the USA.
The Mark Levinson 526 Dual-Monaural Preamplifier will be available in May 2016.
