Help with Krell KSA 50-S versus Krell KSA 200-S

I had a 50s and it was absolutely a great little amp. I sold it because I didn't need a ss stereo amp, but that was likely a mistake. IIRC, when I was shopping, the dealer (Sound by Singer) demoed the 50s vs one of the bigger Krells (may or not have been the 200s) and we both agreed that the 50 sounded significantly better.

Long time ago, so take it FWIW.

Good Luck

Marty

As a general matter with amps, it has been my experience that the lower powered amplifiers in a manufacturer's line sound better to me, except in the case where you're driving a speaker that needs more power or current. Maybe it has to do with the signal passing through less amplifying devices? In the case of Krells I owned, my old KSA 50 MkII was the sweetest sounding one I owned, beating out the KSA 80 I owned and all the higher powered ones I listened to at the time at my dealer's. And having heard the Krell 50S and 200S, on the same speakers, I felt the 200S to be probably more neutral but clinical, pretty unremarkable really, while the 50S seemed to have a little sweeter character and seemed less fatiguing to listen to (keep in mind that I am now a tube guy, and it may well be that the 200 was a far more accurate amplifier, but I seem to like a little coloration from time to time). But neither my KSA 50 nor the 50S could drive the Duntech Sovereigns nearly as well as the big KMA or KRS200 monoblocs, as the less powerful amplifiers could not control the woofers nearly as well nor provide the dynamic headroom that the Sovereigns could deliver. So I think that the answer to your question of which amp to choose will hinge on the speakers you choose--if you like the sound of the KSA 50S, try to get a speaker that matches the characteristics of the Totems you owned.

thank you for taking the time to respond and advice appreciate this

I'm not a Krell expert, & not sure what the "S" version was? But there was a review in the Absolute Sound when the amp came out on the KSA 200--the reviewer loved it, mainly, but went on about the heat--even in Oct., it heated up his room so much it was a big issue.

Not that I'd let that stop me if I came across one at a good price. And Totem 1's & Mani 2's like lots of power......

The "S" cersions were Krell's models after the KSA 150 and 250, which were heavily (but not fully, as I recall) Class A biased amps. I think they were the first Krell amps using their sustained plateau biasing feature, where the amp switched from AB to A depending on the signal strength being fed it. The KSA 200 was the mono version of the KSA 80, which was a full Class A design (the predecessor to the KSA 150 and 250) that ran really hot (as did my KSA 80).

The mono version of the KSA 80 was the KMA 160. KSA stands for Krell Stereo Amp. KMA stands for Krell Mono Amp.

Oops, sorry, you're right, I meant the "big brother" of the KSA 80. Same generation Krell. And FWIW, I thought the 80 sounded just a little better than the 200.

In stereophile they generrally compare ksa50s to ksa100but there is part were they compare ksa50s to ksa100s and they said the same as people said here but about ksa100s that ksa50s sound more sweet. I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION.

DUE TO AUTOMATIC  BIASING ADJUSTABLE LEVEL DEPENDS FROM INPUT SIGNAL  CAN SOMEONE HEARD SOME PUMPING ON BASS FREQUENCYS ON SOME KIND SLOW BASS OR SOMETHING? I ASK BECAUSE INPUT LEVEL MESSURE CIRCUT HAVE TO STILL SOME PART OF INPUT SIGNAL AND IT SHOULD IMPACT DETAILS COMPARE TO AMP WITH FIXED BIAST. MAYBE HOW AVERYBODY CLAIM A LITTLE LACK OF BASS IS COUSE BY THAT AUTOMATIC BIASING CIRCUIT?

The sustained plateau bias does not effect the bass, my ksa 300s amplifier has great bass performance. 

In a similar situation, on a secondary system setup - my Pass/Forte' amp was configured in two ways, either Class A/B 180w or full Class A 50w, constant on. 

While all of my former amps were Class A/B 200w SS, and used them to drive my former Totem One Signatures, while they sounded good, I now have the Pass Forte' configured as true Class A 50w with larger and more demanding speakers. It does sound sweeter, and does a fine job controlling the drivers at low to moderate listening levels. Speakers and the size of the room matters too.  

My primary system is all tube, and so it's fun to compare back and forth fwiw