Best used Krell two channel amp?

Dadio,
I would not take a KAV over a KSA any day of the week. I'm not saying the KAV 250A is bad, it surely has the power ratings, BUT the KSA-80b has musicality in spades all over the KAV series.....KAV stands for Krell Audio Video and this seems to be where it is best suited. KSA aka Krell Stereo Amplifier is where the music begins.

I had nothing but older Krell amps at one point, starting with the KSA-100, KSA-80, KMA-160's(mono version of the KSA-80's), KSA-150 & 250, MDA-300's & 500's. I borrowed my dealers KAV-250a for 2 weeks for comparison with the KSA series on hand. Not even in the same league! It would get "in my face" no matter what I listened to. A BIG IF is your speakers? Not knowing what you have is tough to say what will happen. In my honest opinion I truly believe the KSA-80b to be a much better build quality, sound quality and more relaxed sounding amp. Don't let the 80 watt rating fool you....it doubles in power as the ohms are halved and has as much current as some MIG welders. The KAV's do not have this ability.

The easiest way I can describe what happened in my system goes like this: While driving Thiel CS-3.6's which are ruthless of upstream components the KSA-80b filled my large basement/apartment with full rich sound. Switched to the KAV-250a and my Thiels did nothing but "scream at me" unless played at low volumes. KAV always sounded strained no matter what cables I used.

I hope that helped?

I agree with Bryhifi, the KAV series was never intended to be as much a no-compromise design as the KSA/KMA series. It runs in Class AB, not Class A like the 80, and does not have nearly the same ability to drive difficult speaker loads. It was intended to be more user friendly, in that it would fit easily in a rack, didn't run hot, and would have enough power for speakers presenting an easier load, but it lacked the refinement and grunt of the KSA series.

KSA250 KSA250 KSA250. Try to get one cheap so if you dont like it sell it. May want to look into tubes...

Bah, class AB always seems to get a bad wrap. The best sounding Conrad-Johnson amps to me were the class AB amps, like the 11a . All the class A amps did was cause you to have to run the A/C on high, which messed with the sound and the utility bill. The KAV 250a has a power transformer that really needs a 20 amp circuit. 2000 watts into 4 ohms is 16 amps. My guess is it is still class A, but just to a point, at which it becomes class AB. Exploding bombs don't need a lot of finess. Love scenes do. Listen to one before you make a decision. Remember that all this stuff is true old, and probably needs to be rebuilt. I hear Krell is easy to work with on rebuilding, although they are expensive but not outrageous. 

Try Krell KSA300S.