Skip to Content

Exclusive: Rock Band Unplugged Track List
AOL Tech

MarkLevinson posts

LG's 5.1 HB954SP Blu-ray HTIB system makes room for your iPod or iPhone

by Darren Murph posted Oct 10th 2009 at 8:14AM

If you've somehow managed to hold out from joining into the HTIB revolution, the time for caving is upon you. LG has just tapped Sir Mark Levinson to engineer the acoustics behind its latest bundle, the HB954SP. Packing a 5.1-channel sound system that includes 1,000 total watts of power, a quintet of oval drivers and a ported subwoofer, the system gets direction from a BD-Live-enabled Blu-ray player that's actually a fair bit more stylish than the tried-and-true black rectangle. You'll also find a pair of HDMI inputs, an iDock function for charging and controlling your iPod / iPhone right from the BD deck, 1080p upscaling of traditional DVDs, touch sensitive controls, a USB port for loading up external media and an optical audio input. There's nary a mention of price, but it should splash down this November for a hefty premium.

Harman Specialty Group shows off new gear to bust your wallet

by Steven Kim posted Aug 3rd 2009 at 1:37PM

Mark Levinson No. 500H-series amplififers
When most people with sub-seven figure incomes hear "Harman," they think "Kardon." High-enders with more... advantageous... economic situations might think of names like Mark Levinson, Revel and Lexicon. For them, the Harman Specialty Group is rolling out some appropriately over-the-top gear to go along with the Lexicon BD-30 Blu-ray deck. The Mark Levinson No. 500H-series amplifiers continue with the familiar tower design, but tout new circuit topology -- we're assuming Class H -- into the various multichannel models, with the top-dog 535H punching out 1,000-Watts. On the speaker side of the house, Revel is bringing the Ultima Rhythm2 and Performa B150 powered subwoofers to the party. Revel considerately throws in amplifiers (2,400-Watts for the Ultima and 1,200 for the Performa) rather than forcing you to pick up another Mark Levinson amp. Pricing undetermined, but you can look to other offerings from these brands for suitably stratospheric guidance.

LG's HB354BS Blu-ray HTIB gets a thumbs-up review

by Steven Kim posted Apr 16th 2009 at 2:23AM

LG HD354BS Blu-ray HTIB
Although pricing info for LG's HB354BS Blu-ray HTIB wasn't available by the time it hit the internet, TrustedReview's impressions of the all-in-one sound pretty favorable. Whether it's because LG chose to focus on quality over quantity by delivering "only" a 2.1-channel system or Mark Levinson sprinkled some audiophile-approved fairy dust over the pieces, it all came together pretty nicely. Once things were set up, the slick UI and retractable iPod dock went a long way towards minimizing the light and hollow feel of the individual parts, and sound quality that didn't immediately fall apart with increasing volume didn't hurt either. As expected, the Blu-ray visuals -- rivaling LG's standalone BD370 -- didn't disappoint, which sealed the deal for this system. Even for surround sound, we'd take a solid 2.1-channel system over a lackluster 7.1-channel one, and TrustedReviews did too, giving it the HB354BS a recommendation -- assuming it hits the streets at a reasonable price.

LG's 2009 Blu-ray revamp and new Blu-ray HTIBs

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 7th 2009 at 1:40PM Breaking News

LG BD370
Today at CES, LG shared the details of its two new Network Blu-ray players that will be the first to support the new NetCast with content partners like CinemaNow and YouTube -- no love for the older players. The BD370 and BD390 are essentially the same with both featuring BD Live etc, with the main difference between the two being the BD390 includes 1GB of internal storage for BD Live, and 7.1 discrete analog output. No word on the price of either, but the BD370 is due in Q2 while the 390 is due in Q3. There are also three new home theater systems that feature Blu-ray players, which of course are also BD Live and feature NetCast, but more interestingly also sport TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. Unlike the LHB954, the LHB977 and LHB979 both feature Tallboy speakers and two HDMI inputs which will really come in handy for anyone with a game console or a STB -- so yeah like everyone. The LHB979 (picture after the break) distinguishes itself from the rest with speakers that were designed by Mark Levinson and has more power.

Continue reading LG's 2009 Blu-ray revamp and new Blu-ray HTIBs

Mark Levinson ships the No. 532 Dual Monaural Amplifier

by Steven Kim posted Sep 22nd 2008 at 12:14PM

Mark Levinson No. 532 Dual Monaural AmplifierIf lending the company name to LG HTIB systems made anyone think that Mark Levinson was moving towards the mainstream market, the release of the No. 532 Dual Monaural Amplifier should lay those thoughts to rest. Not to be confused with a stereo amplifier for mere mortals, the No. 532 is really two 400-Watt mono amps that share power and control circuitry, bundled together in one tidy chassis. Obviously something only for the jet-set, the No. 532 is available now, but without pricing info -- that's got to be PR-speak for "If you have to ask..." Seriously, though, with the ML brand showing up on car audio and HTIB systems, doesn't this pretense ring a bit hollow?

EDIT: The man Mark Levinson (behind the LG HTIB systems) has nothing to do with the brand Mark Levinson any more. -- Thanks, Spencer!

Mark Levinson ships activity-based No. 502 Media Console

by Steven Kim posted Jul 13th 2008 at 5:17PM

Mark Levinson No. 502 Media Console
You know you're an enthusiast when an AV receiver isn't good enough for you and you go the separates route. But leave it to Mark Levinson to give cash-saturated folks another level again. The No. 502 is kicking off a new product series for the company, and indeed the world -- at least that's what Mark Levinson would have you believe -- it's not a mere "A/V processor," but a "Media Console." We're sure the performance is top-notch with the Faraday cage chassis, six HDMI (cough, 1.1, cough) inputs, phase-matched bass management and Gennum VXP broadcast-quality video processing; and certainly the design is a far cry from what we envision when we hear "media console." But at the asking price of about $30,000, we'd like to see gear that does more than bundle an AV processor with Harmony-like activity functionality. Still, it is a gorgeous bit of machinery that screams "high end" without screaming -- check out the pics after the break.

[Via CEPro]

Continue reading Mark Levinson ships activity-based No. 502 Media Console

LG / Mark Levinson audio-video products get priced, start shipping

by Darren Murph posted May 28th 2008 at 10:06AM


Not like the actual products are any surprise, but all of that LG / Mark Levinson kit that was announced at CES has finally been given a proper price tag and release date. The handful of home theater audio systems (or HTIBs, as it were) arrive in a plethora of arrangements for nearly any need, and prices on the sets range from $299.95 to $649.95. Check out the read link for the complete rundown of what the LHT888, LHT874, LHT854, LFD850 and LFA840 systems include, and head on down to Best Buy, Circuit City or any other fine retailer to pick one up right now if you find yourself duly impressed.

Mark Levinson's new No. 53 amp is 20 better than predecessor

by Steven Kim posted Apr 9th 2008 at 9:32AM

Mark Levinson No. 53 amplifierWhen most of us think of "high end" gear, we picture shiny tech that we might be able to afford if we got lucky in Vegas. But there's a whole other level of expensive gadgetry that schleps like us can't even begin to fathom; ironically, the closest we ever get to this gear is in Vegas during CES. Case in point: Mark Levinson's new No. 53 monoblock amplifier. This replacement of the company's top of the line No. 33 amp introduces Interleaved Power Technology (IPT), its foray into the world of digital amplification. That's right -- the old saw about digital amps being inferior is giving way, albeit slowly. And in this case, at a unspeakably-high price point. So if you're sitting on a pair of No. 33s, best put them up on eBay in preparation for the No. 53's summer availability; this new model is said to outperform anything the marque has done before. Our friends at CE Pro were mightily impressed, but these babies might as well be milled out of a solid block of unobtanium for us (you know, to tame resonances).




    AOL News

    Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

    Joystiq
    Download Squad
    The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
    BloggingStocks
    Joystiq Xbox
    Autoblog
    Big Download
    Fanhouse NFL Blog