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MARK LEVINSON No. 30.5 FACTORY UPGRADE D/A DAC w/ BOX, 30.5 MANUAL & PACKING!

$ 1576.08

Availability: 100 in stock
  • Model: No. 30.5 Field Upgrade
  • Brand: Mark Levinson
  • All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
  • Type: Board
  • Stereo Components Included: DAC
  • Compatible Brand: LEVINSON No 30
  • Condition: Used

    Description

    VERY RARE & HIGHLY RATED
    MARK LEVINSON No. 30.5
    DAC (Digital to Analog) FACTORY UPGRADE FIELD KIT IN BOX
    AN ABOLUTELY WAY UNFINDABLE UPGRADE FOR THE LEVINSON No. 30 DAC IN SUPERB CONDITION WITH ALL ORIGINALLY SUPPLIED HARDWARE & IN THE BOX WITH  PC BOARD INCLUDING a Pair of he ULTRA-ANALOG UA20400A D/A CONVERTERS & the HDCD SUPPORT Board with HDCD CHIP, (2) 30.5 ALUMINUM D/A CONVERTER COVERS, COMPLETE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS (8+ Pages), FACTORY UPGRADE LABELS WITH No. 30.5 SERIAL NUMBER & No. 30.5 Factory Manual.
    THIS UPGRADE to 30.5 IS A VERY SIGNIFICANT UPGRADE FROM THE ORIGINAL LEVINSON No 30 DAC.  DON"T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET IT WHILE YOU CAN, ONCE IT'S GONE IT WILL BE ESSENTIALLY EXTINCT.
    THIS BOARD INCLUDING HDCD CAPABILITY IS A FULLY TESTED AND VERIFIED UPGRADE KIT (INSTALLED ONLY LONG ENOUGH TO TEST & VERIFY FUNCTIONS) WITH FULL MANUFACTURERS INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR STILL ONE OF THE GREATEST DACS EVER MADE, THE LEVINSON No 30, AND IS A FANTASTIC WAY TO UPGRADE A MARK LEVINSON No 30 DAC OR EVEN DOWNGRADE A 30.6 TO ONE OF THE BEST SOUNDING, IF NOT THE BEST SOUNDING VERSIONS LEVINSON EVER SOLD OF THIS DAC the 30.5.
    THIS DAC UPGRADE WAS 00 + NEW AND IS NOW ULTRA RARE AND IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND ANYWHERE AT ANY PRICE SINCE THIS HAS BEEN NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR AT LEAST A DECADE  FROM ANY LEVINSON ENTITIES OR ANY OF THEIR SERVICE CENTERS.
    THIS BOARD & HARDWARE WOULD ALSO BE A GREAT  START FOR A CUSTOM DIGITAL DESIGN TYPE OR PROJECT D/A CONVERTER (DAC) UTILIZING THE
    UAD20400A D/A CONVERTER CHIPS & HDCD.
    ALL THAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO POWER THIS BOARD IS A DC VOLTAGE SUPPLY TO THE REAR DC DIGITAL INPUT CONNECTOR ON THIS BOARD WHICH IS NORMALLY CONNECTED TO THE OUTBOARD POWER SUPPLY DIGITAL POWER CONNECTOR ON PLS-330 POWER SUPPLY WHEN USED IN THE No. 30, 30.5, OR 30.6 CHASSIS
    ALSO LOOKING FOR KRELL ANALOG OR KRELL DIGITAL PARTS OR PARTS UNITS WORKING OR NOT, OTHER MARK LEVINSON COMPONENTS OR PARTS, CELLO , SONIC FRONTIERS, THRESHOLD, OR POSSIBLY OTHER BRANDS OF AUDIO GEAR WORKING OR NOT INCLUDING 300B DOMESTIC VACUUM TUBES
    HERE IS AN EXCERPT ON THE 30.5 UPGRAGE FROM AN AUDIOPHILE PUBLICATION:
    Despite the fact that the No.30.5—the new processor's designation—has the same DACs, the same analog output stages, and the same power supply as the No.30, Madrigal has put the 30 months since the No.30's launch to good use. Most surprising—and even more so after you read my listening impressions—is that the only changes to the No.30 have been in how the digital signals are handled, and in an innovative technique for virtually eliminating clock jitter. The idea that "bits is bits"—ie, if the ones and zeros are the same, the sound must be the same—is seriously challenged by even a cursory side-by-side comparison of the Nos.30 and 30.5
    Specifically, the three boards that comprised the digital section of the No.30 have been replaced by a single board in the 30.5. The new four-layer board incorporates the digital input jacks, input-source selection circuits, input receiver, digital filter, and the heart of the No.30.5's new circuitry, the data buffer. Madrigal also substituted two AES/EBU inputs for coaxial (RCA) jacks, and added some other functional refinements. For example, the "aliases" (the names given to different source components that appear in the front-panel display) can now be changed from the outside without taking the unit apart and adjusting tiny DIP switches.
    Let's look at each of these changes in more detail.
    First, the digital input signals have a shorter and cleaner path to the input receiver than they did in the No.30. In addition, the unselected inputs are completely disconnected from the circuitry by silicon-chip "T" switches that shunt the unselected signals to ground. In the No.30, all input signals were buffered, amplified, and sent to the main pcb, where the desired input was selected. Madrigal discovered that having only one active digital signal inside the chassis improved the sound. In addition, the No.30.5 uses a new pulse transformer with 125MHz bandwidth, compared to the 25MHz transformers used in the No.30.
    The NPC 5803 digital filter in the No.30 has been replaced with the new NPC 5842 filter chip. The 5842 will pass up to 24-bit words, in contrast to the 18-bit maximum word length possible with the 5803 (footnote 3). In addition, the 5842 is controlled by a DSP chip to ramp the volume up and down when switching between inputs. (This volume-ramping function was performed internally in the 5803 filter used in the No.30.) The DSP also turns off the 5842's internal dither.
    The No.30.5 also benefits from what Madrigal has learned about digital power supplies. The digital board's regulation is distributed differently to reduce jitter.
    By far the most important change to the No.30 is the innovative and elaborate jitter-reduction circuit. In most processors, including the No.30, the input receiver recovers the clock from the S/PDIF datastream, which becomes the master clock for the processor. Any jitter in the datastream, and any jitter intrinsic to the receiver, ends up at the DAC's word clock, where it degrades sound quality.
    Madrigal has taken a completely different approach to clock generation. The No.30.5 recovers the input signal and clock with a conventional Crystal CS8412 input receiver. But instead of sending that audio data and clock to the digital filter and the DACs, it's input to a First-In, First-Out (FIFO) RAM buffer. The buffer can accept data at a varying rate (caused by jitter or clock-frequency instability from the CD transport), but can output data with near-perfect precision. The output clock that ends up controlling when the DACs convert the digital samples to analog (the point where clock jitter matters) is generated by a high-precision VCXO (Voltage-Controlled Crystal Oscillator), an oscillator whose frequency is determined by a reference voltage. This technique makes the final word clock completely immune to transport and interface jitter. In fact, the accuracy of the word clock is determined by the precision of the crystal oscillator. Consequently, the master clock is completely isolated from the jittered source clock.
    With the introduction of the Mark Levinson No.30.5 Reference Digital Processor, Madrigal has again set the standard against which all other digital processors must be judged. The No.30.5 is without question the best digital processor I've heard, and a significant improvement in performance over the No.30.
    24-bit digital/analog converter.
    Inputs: five AES/EBU on XLR connectors, two Toslink (EIAJ) optical inputs, one AT&T ST-type optical input. Digital outputs: two AES/EBU on XLR jack, one optical on Toslink jack.
    Analog outputs: one unbalanced stereo pair on RCA jacks, two balanced stereo pairs on XLR jacks.
    D/A conversion: two custom 20-bit DACs.
    Digital filter: 8x-oversampling.
    Analog filter: Bessel-tuned low-pass, linear phase to 40kHz.
    Frequency response: 10Hz–20kHz, +0dB, –0.2dB.
    THD: 0.003% at 1kHz, 0dB, A-weighted.
    Dynamic range: 98dB or better.
    S/N ratio: 105dB.
    Channel separation: better than 110dB.
    Intermodulation distortion (IM): <0.005%.
    Low-level linearity: deviation unmeasurable to below –70dB, approximately +1.7dB below –90dB, undithered, referenced to 0dBFS at 1kHz.
    Output impedance: <6 ohms.
    30.5 Field Upgrade works with any voltage version unit since outboard power supply is implemented providing DC power to the entire digital circuit.
    THIS LISTING INCLUDES THIS HIGHLY DESIRABLE MARK LEVINSON No. 30.5 DAC FACTORY UPGRADE BOARD, MOUNTING HARDWARE, 30.5 MANUAL, HDCD LABEL, SERIAL NUMBER LABEL, 2 D/A CONVERTER ALUMINUM COVERS WITH 30.5 PRINTING, AND 8+ PAGES OF  MARK LEVINSON INSTALATION INSTRUCTIONS TO INSTALL THE BOARD IN A No 30 DAC, 30.5 (If yours doesn't have HDCD
    AS IS OBVIOUS AT THIS POINT, THE MARK LEVINSON No. 30, 30.5, AND 30.6 DACs WERE TOUTED BY MANY REVIEWERS AND MANY AUDIOPHILES FOR MANY YEARS AS THE REFERENCE DAC TO WHICH ALL OTHER DACs WERE COMPARED AND REVIEWS ARE ON MANY SITES INCLUDING STEREOPHILE.
    THIS UPGRADE HAS BEEN INSTALLED ONCE AND FULLY TESTED TO VERIFY FUNCTIONALITY AND HAS ALMOST NO HOURS OTHER THAN PROVING PERFORMANCE, JUST LONG ENOUGH TO VERIFY FUNCTIONALLITY AND IS
    IN
    PERFECT WORKING  AND SOUNDS GREAT.
    IN GREAT CONDITION BOTH FUNCTIONALLY AND COSMETICALLY
    WILL BE PACKED IN DOUBLE BOXESS VERY WELL FOR SAFE SHIPPING TO ANY LOCATION
    PLEASE SEE MY OTHER AUCTIONS, INCLUDING ONE FOR A MARK LEVINSON No 30 DAC IN FACTORY BOXES OR FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME ANY QUESTIONS
    BUYER WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL SHIPPING COSTS & INSURANCE BUT IT SHOULD BE OR LESS ANYWHERE IN THE CONTINENTAL US
    ALL QUESTIONS & REASONABLE OFFERS WELCOME
    GREAT CONDITION AND SOUND SUPERB
    I ALSO HAVE THIS ITEM LISTED IN MULTIPLE PLACES AS WELL AS LOCALLY SO AUCTION MAY END ABRUPTLY, FIRST TO PAY WINS
    Local Pickup also welcome
    Willing to assist with local delivery in the Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville area for 50 cents a mile
    Freight shipping
    Will combine shipping for multiple purchases.
    INTERNATIONAL bidders to pay by pre-agreed method before auction end.
    All Payments are required within 3 days of end of listing.
    Winning bidder pays actual shipping charge and insurance(required).