Anyone at home at Krell?

Krell announced a temporary closure in the wake of Rondi's death, I believe for a few weeks.

I can understand mourning the death of a founder, but closing shop completely seems a bit overboard. I don't recall Ayre shutting down after Charlie's death.

B

Thanks for the update cleeds.  I have an amp there for capacitor(s) and service.  Been there since mid April.  

I will say though that the service department's phone mailbox has been full for months.  Email is the way.  Takes a bit for a reply but I do receive them.

-John

Thank you for the information. I did not know. RIP Rondi. 

I had tried to get some help regarding an amplifier issue with my KAV 250A. This is well before Rondi had passed (rip, prayers).

All tech support voice mail boxes were full. So I tried sales extensions. All sales voicemail boxes were full. Imagine that? Left messages and numbers, no call backs.

HEY KRELL!! YOU JUST LOST ME AS A FUTURE, and past, CUSTOMER.

Each company family chooses how they want to grieve ,give them 

respect what’s 3-4 weeks ,R.I.P Rhondi.

I recently (about a month ago) received my repaired K300i back from them.   I have always found them slow to respond, but they do respond.   Sometime a phone call worked better than email...

I really love the match of Krell to both my Xstatic EC/Xs and my Totem Element Metal V2's

I did not know about Rondi's passing.   So sad, and I hope they all recover and thrive.   Too many good people and companies are no longer with us.

May be going through the legal process of reorganizing and all the estate issues as all companies do at this terrible time.luv my krell fpb 600 a beast to

+1 to @mark200mph's comment. The death of a founder can be especially difficult on a company. Did they have a succession plan in place? What direction do they want to go? Divorces have caused many companies to close, let alone the death of the one with vision who breathed life into it. To them it was likely a passion, to others perhaps just a paycheck. 

Anyone who has ever gone through such a process knows how long dealing with all the legal issues, and then any in-fighting among successors can be. I hope Krell continues. 

I lost interest in Krell when they parted with Dan Agostino. He was the heart n soul of the company. Just check out what he has done since he left Krell.
https://www.dandagostino.com

An update on their website and phone messaging explaining the situation would go a long way.

You might never know how a private company is financed till they fill for chapter 13 or the owner passes. Krell was top banana at one time and was mine was great for Apogee low ohm ribbons. Very few amp at the time could drive my 1 ohm Sintilla Apogee speakers without blowing. Anyway, I just imagine they have financial arrangement to consider and they are not the high end amp of choice since there are so many great amps.

God Bless Rondi's and his family.     

I've been in commercial insurance for over four decades. It is surprising how many small companies have no succession/continuity plan in place. This is years ago, but we had one company lose the top three execs, all in their prime, in a plane crash. It really screwed things up for the company and their customers. No idea if that is Krell's situation but it wouldn't surprise me.

I own Krell Gear, live in CT and have dropped and picked up gear for repair / service.  They have always been a bit slow to respond, I’ve found email was the best way to get an update or response.  The last time I visited their offices / manufacturing site was likely a couple years back.  Seemed to be a very lean crew but those that were at the company seemed to be passionate about Krell and seemed to have been with the company for quite awhile.  They had a resurgence with the release of the XD amps which are fantastic in my opinion, Walter Schofield joined the management team and seems like they were making quite a comeback.  Something happened and Walter ended up leaving the company, once that happened, seemed like they lost momentum.  Krell is an Iconic Brand, hopefully they’ll carve a path forward after Rondi’s passing (RIP).  She stepped back in to save the company after Private Equity had made a mess of things.  My local HiFi shop had a lifelong Krell employee on staff, from what he shared, Rondi stepped back in out of a passion, loyalty to the employee’s.  It will be really sad for the HiFi community if Krell fades away, was such a huge brand in the space back in the day. 
 

Knock knock … “Who is there?”

krell

”krell Who”

They may not survive this. Several key players have left recently. Couple that with the passing of Rondi.

According to Audiotroy, Rhondi was already stepping down from her role due to her husband’s Alzheimer’s and had hired a new CEO along with a new management team

Krell is located in Orange, CT.

Interestingly (or not) that's where the world's sole PEZ factory is located.

Went there once. The PEZ factory, not Krell.

I haven't written about this at FutureAudiophile.com but Rondi recently died and Krell is in pretty big trouble.

After the investor that basically threw Dan out, it is unclear how much of the company that he owns any more IF ANY.

Rondi and her husband were supporting the business personally. Walter Schofield (who I helped Rondi hire) is long gone and now running Stenheim in the US along with a few other brands like Alta Audio. The head of manufacturing is gone. The head of finance is gone too. There is a new president but I am not sure if the company can pay him which sucks because he's a nice guy. I JUST spoke with him about six weeks ago. 

I believe there is a lot of debt at Krell from the costs of keeping the business open in the last few years. Rondi made a terrible mistake not taking the offer to buy when Walter was there but we all make mistakes. 

Rondi was a very sweet woman. I saw her in Munich this year and she didn't look healthy. I will miss her. 

I am not sure now is a good time to be buying Krell gear new. Some of the legacy stuff could be collectable. KSA-150s type stuff. 

If I were Dan, I might try to buy the brand and merge the two into a Toyota-Lexus type deal where Krell is more affordable, real-world electronics and Dan D is the big boy stuff. That might be hard because I think the company might go into probate AND it is supposedly deep in debt. 

Who knows but the Rondi news was very sad. 

Some of these comments are inhumane and downright rude. Remember, there’s always a moment to choose to be kind. This audio world is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Life happens. I could not afford Krell. But I always envied those that enjoyed their products for decades. Like all of us, everything has an expiration date. RIP to Rondi.

Thanks for the info on krell.the end of life is hard and oftentimes unexpected.i have dealt with that alot both young and old.sometimes unexpected.my the family have closure.that sometimes takes time to heal.what a great legacy to be involved in krell. Enjoy life and the music

Anybody able to get through to Krell yet or have an update?

@hollywoodamps No. Allegedly the designer Dave Goodman is no longer with the company. Rhondi had one son who owns a car repair shop in Florida. Things can still turn out well but it may be a lot different. The Mark Levinson brand still makes great products even though the founder has no connection to current company.

I like companies like McIntosh where like Levinson, the current brand isn’t tied to some famous designer. Many times that doesn’t work out well for the company when the designer with supposed magical powers dies or leaves, Ayre  and Dunlavy come to mind.

August 15 , it’s a bad situation I send few emails to recommended www.krellhifi.com  unfortunately all is being rejected 😫🤷‍♂️

I have preamp and amp in need of repair and refurbishing. 
None of the phones not responding, not taking massages 

I initiated the issue in may!!!!

all the best for you music lovers 🎷🪈🎸

A friend of mine returned his KSA-300 to Krell for repair. Unfortunately, he has been waiting for a quote over 6 months now. No response from Krell.

This is very disappointing.

Johnny

George Meyer  in Los angels will take you service job  310- 820-1113

Krell authorized and they have a Boatload of krell units there

Including Pair my Krell 350 MCX

I am getting frustrated as they have my KSA-200s there for repair.  Has been there since April.  I used to get responses but now the emails get bounced back.  The voice mails are full.  I understand the taking some time to mourn but they should at least let us know if they are closing.  I will drive there to get my amp.  Im in PA so it would be a pita but at least I would have my amp back. 

You must be frustrated to the 4th power.

For sure! I am just waiting to hear from the first person that drives there in person to see what is happening

I called the Orange police to go by and take a look.  They talked to another tenant and they said they might be going out of business.  I called him and he gave me the landlords email.  I emailed then and only got crickets.  I am really mad right now.

@jkhallpa57 , a landlord will not give you ANY Personal information on one of their tenants.   

@jkhallpa57 There might be a lot of people scrambling to get their items back if they do go bankrupt. It's not as if they will just send everything back to everyone. Lots of road trips! A company that goes bankrupt doesn't care about anything that will not legally affect them after they walk away so a pile of items in for repair is just stock for the bankruptcy official to start the auction if that is the way this goes. I'm sure the official will give notice to anyone that has items in for repair to come get them, they are not there to hurt people.

I sure hope so.

Are any of you guys near CT?

I'm hoping some of you guys are being a bit hasty with your assessments and the talk of bankruptcy. Was there any reason to think that Krell was NOT a going concern before the bereavement? I'm genuinely asking, I do not know the answer.

I communicated with their service dept. back in June '24 and got a quick response and quote for repair to my KSA80.  I decided against sending it back to them, had I done so it would probably still be in a queue somewhere...

Anyway, an institution in the hifi world, let's hope they bounce back soon and y'all get your gear back.

Are any of you guys near CT?

Is my 2,200 miles considered near?

jkhallpa57:

I called the Orange police to go by and take a look.

You beat me to it, you saved me time and effort. Thanks!

I have no real idea on the financial capabilities of Krell. From their BS of a couple weeks downtime until now is a strong signal they are done! I have been a Krell consumer for about 30 years and have enjoyed every piece of equipment I have had from them. I too, like many others, have equipment in for repair, no not the 30 year old stuff.

Whoever is in charge after Rondi’s passing has, in my opinion, managed to destroy overnight, Krell’s reputation. We can only hope that our equipment will be returned to their rightful owners.

I don't understand why the owner's passing shuts down the repair division of the company. Surely they had parts inventory of their own gear in stock and in house.

Perplexity AI reports “After the passing of Rondi D'Agostino, Krell Industries is temporarily closed to allow the D'Agostino family and the Krell team to grieve. The company has announced that it will honor all existing orders and repair requests, although new orders or requests may experience delays of up to 30 days. Krell remains committed to upholding its legacy of excellence in high-end audio solutions and plans to resume normal business operations shortly”.    

I do not know if the above is true or not.  I wish Krell staff would say something.   I have no further info or explanation.   

Was there any reason to think that Krell was NOT a going concern before the bereavement? I’m genuinely asking, I do not know the answer.

@rooze I don’t mean to spread rumors, but on another thread someone mentioned he’d spoken to a former Krell employee who’d left fairly recently and did not say very positive things about Krell’s state of operations. It was bad enough that it stuck in my memory, and combined with how they’re handling the current situation I’d be very concerned if they had my equipment. They’re certainly behaving more like a company going down the toilet than one intending to be an ongoing concern. I know that after this debacle I’d never consider buying a Krell component. Damage done in my book, and it’s just sad all around.

Just got off the phone with a Large  authorized Krell repair shop

They cannot reach them as well....

They seem to think the situation is in the attorneys hands.

Who is their top retail seller in the US? I’d think the dealer network, especially one that moved lots of product might have some information. Or a company they went and attended show with. Maybe not, sounds like lights out. Too bad always had my eye on these amps but never tried one.

Wiki says Dan is still there??? Also says the 2024 Kia has a Krell system in it. They must be selling with with an optional boom box at this point.

I am so tempted to drive to Orange just to peek in the window.

Please do

Good people,

There is a page on Facebook titled “Krell Owners and Enthusiasts”.  The repair technician at Krell, Willie Barnett, is an active member, and posted the following; I’m sharing per his request:

“I've just been informed that there is some NEGATIVE commentary going on over in the "Augiogon" forum. I am already busy here, providing Tech Support to some folks and fellow TECHS in PM's, so I can't add more burden by joining THAT Group. (Which is not 100% Krell like this one.) If some of our good folks here could help out by clarifying misinformation over there, it would go a LONG WAY towards helping settle a difficult situation. If they have questions, ask them to come here, and I will do my best to answer. You are also always welcome to copy/paste or screenshot my posts, to share there. THANK YOU! :) The word I have now is that we SHOULD be hearing from the Court ANY DAY NOW. (They are overdue with their answer.)”.

There you have it; it is surely an unfortunate situation - but hopefully will be resolved in a positive manner, soon.

TD

Now I am confused. Is Krell done or reorganizing or sold?

ozzy

I let Willie know I shared his thoughts above; he asked me to mention this:

“I would **STRONGLY** discourage people from driving out there to "look in the windows"!! YOU MAY VERY WELL BE ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING!! The Landlord has surveillance cameras all around HIS PROPERTY, and is within his rights to call the Police for any suspicious activity! PLEASE, DON'T!! All you will see is a dark, locked up place with nobody inside. That's it. I know it's hard, but **PLEASE** stay calm, remain patient! Once we RE-OPEN, we WILL start reaching out to customers! 🙂 Thank you! 🙂