[maplegrovemusic]

I am looking at a pair of Levinson 20 mono block amps located locally through CL . The buyer wants $3300  firm for these. Anyone know the market value ? Or am i going to set the market if i purchase these ? Also never owned amps so old. High heat from being class A has me worried . Also would like input on how much it costs to refresh these ? would the same parts go into a rebuild ? I would hate to change the amps by doing that . Thanks,mike.

[srb]

Also never owned amps so old. High heat from being class A has me worried.

Maybe you should be somewhat cautious.

A few years back I briefly flirted with the idea of picking up an older local Krell Class A amp only because it seemed like a lot of amplifier for a relatively low asking price, even though I wasn't really looking for a large, heavy and hot running Class A beast.

On inspection, beside the very common discoloration of the heat sinks from high heat, some of the electrolytic capacitors looked like they were bulging a little bit and one had actually leaked a small amount.  Several resistors were a little brownish and toasted looking and a few wires had some slight melting of insulation.  There was also a lingering burned smell inside.  I came to my senses and decided that an older high-powered Class A amplifier probably wasn't for me.

Steve

[maplegrovemusic]

Thanks for the input SRB . The Krell ksa series is on my short list as well . Asking to open the tops for a visual inspection sounds like a must do then .

[*Scotty*]

You might check that both PNP and NPN output transistors are still in production. If they are out of production you may encounter problems in the event that you ever have to have the amp serviced.
Scotty

[HsvHeelFan]

On the PNP and NPN transistors, get the numbers (and manufacturer) off of them and see if you can find a Data Sheet from that Vendor.

If you need to replace them, you'll need to have the data sheet for those transistors to find suitable replacements.

Be aware that you may need to make some compromises in finding replacement transistors based on the data sheet differences.

HsvHeelFan

[*Scotty*]

They may also be matched pairs which will likely require purchasing multiples of both types to allow matching.
This does not mean that purchasing the amps is a bad idea but these sort of things go with the territory when purchasing an older amp.
It would also be good idea to get a complete parts list of all of the semiconductors used in the amp as the rest of the transistors could also be hard to find. If I really liked an amp I would have spares on hand just in case they were needed.
Scotty