Yestrerday I auditioned the 840c with a krell 400xi integrated at a dealer. I have an Sacd Standard on the way (bought through audiogon) but in the meantime I wanted to hear the latest redbook entries in case I have Krell transport problems and/or need to hawk the Standard and pocket the difference for financial reasons. In short, I was surprised to hear the 840c performing so well. I would say it was 90% as good as the Krell. The only areas in which the 840c fell short were in bass weight and definition, and palpability of acoustic instruments. However I should point out that the loudspeakers were Paradigm Studio 20's and 40's, so it's very likely - if reviews are any indication - that higher end speakers would reveal at least some superiority. Possibly ditto for cables/interconnects and/or room acoustics. That better be the case, considering the difference in price tags (over $2K used vs. $1350 new. Next week I may borrow the 840c from the same dealer and do A/B'ing against the SACD Standard. Unless the Standard is distinctly superior over a wide range of recordings (especially as revealed through Sennheiser HD600's), then I may end up with the 840c. I should also point out that in-store auditioning was done using both the 840c's and the Standard's single-ended rca's. My 400xi does balanced, so who knows what switching IC's will do.
