(He+$$yrs = Pb*ears)/12ax7 |
Yeah, "one of the world's...." would have been more appropriate and accurate - not sure he would sell one more amp by claiming the crown. Yet, a very important designer he certainly is, and good to know he is staying in the business with a new venture. I would hope anyone willing to buy a $42,000 amp is well beyond the vagaries of the up and down economy. |
Did not know he was no longer with Krell, when and why did that happen? |
At $42,000 you would think a boutique in LA, Chi, Dallas, and New York would do the trick, ala Cello |
A great $5000 Class A Integrated would have sent the message that the baton had passed to a successor company with a viable sales path; not sure this product is about making sales, at least not right at the start. |
"I just wonder if this Amp will be a huge upgrade in performance over say an ~10K Pass labs X250.5 or SimAudio Evolution W-8?" NO
I don't think the strategy is to sell these, why the economy does not matter, but it sure will get a lot of press and photos from the show and a story to tell about new innovations and insights from years of designing amps and at some point this new vision will trickle down into products priced to sell - so much about this industry is having a story to tell and differentiate - this product seems to set the table with its look and price point. |
Well, if these designs are going to end up being Class A, hard to tell, then I can see the being quite a bit more than the Pass X series, but you would think in line with the XA.5 (some the best SS amps I have ever heard) so maybe 15-20K for 100 Class A watts in monoblock. I think Dan D tended to push the wattage enevelope, whereas Nelson Pass seems to be comfortable with world class amps with as little as 15-30watts (and more if you really want it, or need it). I get the sense if the Vaporware were $5000 he would get much less "ink" and ink - so let's see where his new venture takes him, I'm sure he has a following based on him being the designer, and new Krell product just won't be seen as being the same, as Marantz wasn't the same after.... |
I'm not sure what the P/E firm bought, whatever they now own isn't Krell anymore is it? Krell is whatever Dan was designing and brining to market, without him it seems whatever is left is a shell moving forward - I can't imagine buying a Pass Labs amp not designed by Nelson Pass and thinking it is a Pass amp. Something nasty must have been going for the investors to push out their most valuable asset. |
That might very well be true, but Dan is the one the "public" knows about and for the most part the sense is that the connection between Dan the man and Krell the company is that they are one and the same, rightly or wrongly. Not sure what will happen to the Krell brand and product line in the future, but it is not the same without Dan (which does not mean it can't be a better company with better product, but it is just not the same Krell post-Dan). There may very well be a depth of design talent there to keep Krell viable moving forward. |
Obama caused the collapse of Wall Street? invented credit default swaps and debt obligations, convinced O'neil at Merrill to ignore the ten-fold increase in exposure to sub-prime mortgages, which led to the hemorraging of constuction and manufacturing jobs, the implosion of the mortgage and housing market and the world-wide debt induced recession? I'm confused, but I haven't watched Fox News for a while. Well maybe Jeb will come to the rescue and provide a path to sustainable, productive growth for the economy and the resurgence of high-end audio, he can always lean on his brother for good advice on steering the economy to prosperity, hey, wait a second.....
I know Wayne Colburn did a lot of design work on Pass preamps, but I was not aware of any significant design work done on the amps (circuit design, not casing)other than by Nelson Pass. |
Class A SS sounds better than A/B. |
"I don't think this is the proper place Auxetophone." Correct. Not questioning what you know, right or wrong, but as you sense, there are many reasons for not continuing with this story in this public forum with what is essentially hearsay and one-sided.
Were the new amp and preamp at RMAF? Or is this waiting till CES/The Show? |
