Charles Hansen(Ayre Acoustics) recently provided some insight into Mark Levinson the man and the company over on AA in this thread:
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=critics&m=56913
"There aren't any right or wrong answers. Personally I would say that there are other things that matter besides the product itself. Let's look at one well-known example -- Levinson.
Mark Levinson started up his company with a feature-laden preamp designed by Richard Burwen. But he gained his fame with a minimalist preamp designed by John Curl. JC was supposed to have been paid on a royalty basis. ML didn't pay, so JC published the secret schematics for the potted modules he designed for Levinson in The Audio Amateur magazine.
So now maybe it isn't just about the product. Does it matter that the company owner (that is presumably making all of the profit) has stolen the design from the engineer he commissioned? You might have one opinion. John Curl might have another. You could ask him -- he posts here from time to time.
The story keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. As Levinson (the company) grew more famous, it also grew more and more mis-managed. Enter one Sandy Berlin. He recognized a good take-over target when he saw one. He made an investment, then forced out the founder. (Does this sound all too familiar -- much like another audio company three decades later?)
But that's not all, oh no, that is not all (to quote one of my favorite authors, Theodore Geisl). Sandy Berlin bankrupted the company and then purchased the assets (the tradename and designs) for something silly like $100. Then he needed investors to fuel the engine. So who does he turn to? The top ten or fifteen retailers in the country!
This is a deal too good to pass up. They can make money selling the gear and also make money building up the company for an eventual sale! Which they did a couple of decades later to Harman. So now is it only the product that matters? Does it matter that you helped your dealer buy a Ferrari or second home with the money he made when the company was sold to Harman?
Did it matter that Harman ran the company into the ground? Did it matter when the closed the Connecticut factory and laid off over 100 worker with no notice? Just came into work one day and were handed their pink slips...
Their plan then was to take ten key employees up to the Lexicon factory outside of Boston. They wanted to do this because Lexicon was profitable, while Levinson (and Proceed) were losing money. (Of course, it is pretty easy to be profitable when you purchase disc players from another manufacturer, stick them in a new box, and mark them up tremendously.) But the story I heard was that only one of the key employees took Harman up on the offer to relocate. That's why Levinson was shut down for over a year. That's why they lost all of their dealers and most of their distributors. That's why there isn't anybody left that knows how to repair any of the original Levinson equipment. Is it still OK? Is it still just about the product?"
