Mark Levinson (audio equipment designer)

History

Levinson founded Mark Levinson Audio Systems (MLAS, Ltd.) in New Haven, Connecticut in 1972. The new company was one of the first in the United States devoted to realistic audio reproduction, a niche later referred to as "high-end audio.” Levinson ran MLAS from 1972 to 1980, a period in which he created seminal products such as the LNP-2 preamplifier that introduced new concepts to the audio world based on superior quality and performance. The LNP-2 achieved a signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 120 dB, a figure close to the theoretical maximum, and one that in the ensuing four decades has rarely been equaled.

However, by 1980 MLAS was in serious financial trouble. Levinson then asked Sanford Berlin, a retired executive in the audio industry, to invest in MLAS and to aid in the management of the company, which Berlin did, personally investing $480,000 in the company and persuading several others to invest an additional $300,000. At Berlin's request, Levinson entered into an employment agreement with MLAS in December 1980, under which Levinson agreed to work exclusively for MLAS as an advisor to management and as a developer of audio equipment for an annual salary of $15,000. He also agreed that, should he leave MLAS, he would not engage in the audio business "anywhere in the world" until December 31, 1988. Finally, the agreement stated that if Levinson "cease[d] to be employed by [MLAS]" he would "not thereafter use or permit the use of the name 'Mark Levinson,' 'Mark Levinson Audio,' or any other name including 'Mark Levinson' in the name or trademark of any corporation" engaged in a business similar to that of MLAS. Less than two years later, in March 1982, Levinson entered into a second agreement with MLAS. In it MLAS agreed to increase his salary to $25,600 per year "effective as of July 1, 1982" and $38,600 per year "effective as of January 1, 1984." In return, Levinson agreed to continue to work exclusively for MLAS, to convey "to MLAS the permanent and exclusive right, title and interest to the trade name 'Mark Levinson', and all variations thereof, in connection with the sale [and] distribution" of audio equipment and not to use or permit the use of the Levinson trade name, other than by MLAS, in connection with the audio business. The parties defined use of the Levinson trade name as "use of such trade name, or variation thereof, (a) as part of the name of a corporation, partnership, joint venture, proprietorship, firm or business or (b) as the name, symbol or identification of any product." Under Berlin's management, MLAS produced a series of audio products under the "Mark Levinson" label. Despite the 1982 agreement, Levinson's relationship with MLAS' new management deteriorated. In early 1983 Berlin placed Levinson's salary in escrow. In the summer of 1984 Levinson left MLAS and founded another company to produce audio equipment, Cello Ltd. Levinson became president and one of the three directors of Cello.

MLAS launched a lawsuit attempting to prevent him from working in the audio industry for the rest of his life on the grounds that he was a “walking trade name” who could “diminish the value of their asset.”

In 1986 Levinson won the case but lost the right to use his name as a trade name on an audio product. For this reason, since several years before the lawsuit, "Mark Levinson" branded audio products have had no relationship to the brand's founder; the "Mark Levinson" brand name has been and continues to be an intellectual property wholly owned by Harman International. In resolving the case, the New York Second Circuit Court wrote a 25-page decision that outlined the rights of an entrepreneur who uses his own name as the name of a company. Levinson himself has continued to work in the industry, creating several new companies and many legendary products.

Levinson ran his second company, Cello Ltd., from 1984 to 1998. With Cello, Levinson created high-priced models such as the Audio Palette, now a highly collectable vintage audio component, selling on the used market for three times its initial price. In 1999, Levinson founded Red Rose Music, an audio company with its own New York retail store on Madison Avenue. The concept of Red Rose was more compact affordable products with very high quality sound.

Levinson went from working with his own brands to consulting for other companies, among them, Korean giant LG Electronics, where he worked closely with CEO Yang Nam as chief sound advisor over all divisions, giving LG an advantage over its competitors. He then spent two years working with Milpitas, California-based chipmaker Intersil, and its subsidiary D2 Audio, improving the performance of digital-to-analog converters and Class D amplifiers.

Later life

In 2007, he moved to Switzerland and used his consulting revenue to finance the founding of Daniel Hertz S.A., a high-performance audio equipment and audio software company with a holistic approach that considers the quality of recordings an important part of the playback system. The company's signature sound is natural dynamic range, a characteristic setting it apart from all other competitors. Daniel Hertz makes beautifully-designed, easy-to-use, high-performance equipment across a wide range of price points.

Mark Levinson continues to advance both audio science and engineering, and is currently focused on creating natural sounding, high dynamic range products for a wide market. Levinson's "Master Class" audio software is considered to be one of the audio industry's most important breakthroughs in the early 21st century.

Equipment history

A partial list of high-performance audio products developed by Mark Levinson Audio Systems, and by Mark Levinson himself after selling off MLAS.

1970s: MLAS

1980s to mid-1990s: Cello

1990s to mid-2000: Red Rose Music

2000s to present: Daniel Hertz