Hey Audio Friends, Last week a Mark Levinson No.5101 digital 3-In-1 player arrived at our music room. This CD/SACD player still doesn't seem to get much review or comment on the forum, so thought you might appreciate an assessment after a few days of getting to know the capabilities of this combo CD/SACD/DAC/Streamer. First off, the No.5101 is a large piece dimensionally, over 18" deep! Not a lightweight either at 36 pounds and it just barely fits in my rack! It's connected to a PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium integrated amplifier running Gold Lion EL34's. Speakers are Focal Aria 936. Build quality is excellent and similar to the Marantz SA-KI Ruby that was here recently. The black finish and red panel indicator lights are beautiful and complemented by an unusual top plate with carefully shaped cooling vents. While it's running cool, it also looks cool. Once in the rack, I used Nordost Ax Angel 2 interconnects and a Heimdall2 power cable to an Isotek power conditioner to get things rolling. For streaming, I'm using an iPad with the MusicLife app and 5Kontrol. No issues at all connecting things up, even for a techno-challenged senior citizen such as myself. CD/SACD: Okay, this is simple. It's the best sounding CD/SACD player I've heard. Yeah, I haven't heard every amazing player out there, so don't get uptight. In my system it is a three dimensional revelation of colorful sound. The sound signature is so deep, powerful, and CLEAN in the midrange. The bass goes low enough to make me realize there's another level down there with the Focal Aria 936!. The upper midrange and treble are perfect in this setup. There's SEVEN different PCM filters you can apply, which give a subtle shading to the sound. Overall sound quality is Addictive! I'm making my way through my CD collection and LP's can wait for now. DAC: This is what Mark Levinson calls the PrecisionLink II Dac. It uses an ESS Sabre chip, but other details are Greek to me, so let me just say that using the No.5101 as an external DAC gives a wonderful sound. Playing files off my laptop hard drive resulted in the same sound signature as the CD player........really, really good. I'm using the Coax input on the No.5101. Of course here you can feed higher quality files like 24/96 and up files, which I have a few. Streamer: Before this, I would stream Tidal from my laptop to an external DAC so I had some familiarity with streaming, but the sound didn't do it for me. It sounded good, but there was something missing. The No.5101 is another world completely. Streaming Hi-Res files from Tidal with the iPad as a controller is so natural and the sound so good that I'm rethinking my view of digital and vinyl. Now they BOTH sound so great! Final Recommendation: Everyone needs one of these. Time to enjoy the music. It's All Good. Are their other No.5101 owners out there? What are your impressions and cable/filter suggestions?
Learned today how to post a pic, so here a a couple of the ML 5101 in my rack. It's a beauty! Anyone else out there have one of these? It's pretty awesome! Streaming Hi-Res FLAC from Tidal at present. It sounds...........VERY good.
Thanks for posting this @Big T. I was actually searching for info on this player. First, are you still enjoying it? Second, can you tell me a bit more about the sound signature in the upper midrange and treble and the nuances of the filter options? I currently have a Marantz ND8006 that I really enjoy, but of course, curiosity has got me about what I could achieve in sonic bliss with a high-end player. However, it seems a lot of times higher end players are described as emphasizing detail to the point that some find them overly bright. While not against more detail, I don’t want to lose the lush warmth I get from my system now, and in fact, if anything, I’d like to enhance it. Any thoughts here are appreciated.
Say Hey AstroFly, The ML5101 is going nowhere. Hope it lasts forever. I am still loving it totally and it gets used daily. The sound signature is, well, perfect for me. All the detail, but it's so smooth and the upper midrange is just right and clean, clean, clean. It matches very well my Sumiko Blackbird/Manley Chinook combo, which is one reason it fits so well here. You can listen all day, every day without fatigue. The Single Ended outs go to my little tube amp and a pair of Focal 936s. The balanced out is converted to SE and feeds a Woo Audio WA2 headphone amp which I use with high impedance dynamic driver headphones. Used to have a Marantz SA-KI Ruby prior to the ML5101, but I found the Ruby too warm for my taste. It's also beautiful piece and has it's own sound signature, but I much prefer the ML5101 in my room with my gear. Hope this small amount of information helps out. Good Luck! Big T
Say Hey Mr. George, Yes, the separation distance of the feet on the ML5101 are about 12", front to back (just measured them). It will hang off the edge a bit but will fit. You won't regret it regardless of your shelf, that's for sure! Big T
Say Hey Mr. George, No luck. The feet might hang over a bit. The feet are pretty large, so the centers are close to 12", but to get the full diameter of all feet on a platform is just about 13" according to my tape measure. Best wishes on your journey. Big T
My opinion is that there is only one good reason to buy the 5101 CD player/DAC: to match it with the corresponding Levinson 5805 integrated amp in their 5000-series of components. Unfortunately, the 5805 does not have tone controls, so that's a deal breaker for both the 5805 and 5101.
Hey I just stumbled upon this post. It certainly does get a great review! I bought a Marantz SA-10 in 2021 and I LOVE it! I'm interested to know if you've heard it and how does it compare? The Levinson does look the part and of course comes with quite a pedigree. I wasn't aware of its existence when doing my research back in spring 2021 as I would certainly have seriously considered it as an option! My Marantz player has a decent DAC and I can stream digital files using my MacBook Pro M1 as the source and the sound is spectacular. I'm certainly more than happy with my purchase- the build quality, it's like a Panzer Tiger! The sound is excellent on SACD and red book discs so no regrets but of course once we see another shiny object....
I fully concur! I received mine a few days ago and love it! It’s very detailed yet not fatiguing. I don’t think digital audio could ever be described as “warm” (except perhaps for pure DSD recordings), but the ML engineers have done a good job of mitigating digital glare/harshness without sacrificing details and clarity.
Say Hey Bachtoven! That looks really sharp in your rack. That McIntosh integrated looks over-the-top nice, too. Congratulations on your new ML5101!
Well, after living with it for a month, I decided to return it. (The dealer has a 60-day return window.) It just doesn't sound much, if any better, than my Esoteric K-03, which is certainly better built and has more spacious sound. I was alarmed when I read a review of the Levinson that stated the transport is made by Sony and is basically a Play Station 5 drive! Really? Wow. I guess that's one way they reduced the cost. I think the Levinson is a good value, and it certainly sounds good, but one is also paying for the name, and they really aren't truly Mark Levinson anymore, and haven't been for years. (They are currently owned by Harmon International.) I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade--just stating my views. Play Station/Levinson transport: Esoteric transport:
So Cool. Mark Levinson is just always crazy good. And that unit is more compatible to the Marantz SA-10, not the SA-KI Marantz is "everything to DSD" type of thing while the Levinson is top shelf and implemented ESS Pro chips. Very different approaches. Both astonishing. Id likely have choose the Mark Levinson as well. Im a detail freak but I'm in recovery! ;-)
