Krell 400xi Damping Factor

Hi Jason,

What had me concerned was that 290 wpc "spec" was at 8ohm's but the 4ohm spec was only 350 not the printed 400 wpc. I was also spooked when one reviewer had the amplifier shut down at 1/3rd volume. I do enjoy the amplifier's sound, the heat generated and questions about the internal power supply/heat sink issues have me somewhat on edge. I'm currently driving Totem speakers that are a fairly easy load, however I'm really interested in Dynaudio 1.3's or the new Focus series which are said to be much tougher to drive.

Lush, I listed for sale my 400xi yesterday. I had an offered for full asking price after couple hours but then I could not do it. I ended up canceling my listing, I realized how much I love this baby Krell sound. I also tried the pre-amp section of the 400 xi with my 4 Bsst and the combo sounds darned good too. I would not buy the evo due to my budget but if I need more juice the KAV2250 amp would be my amp and the 400xi at its price point still a very nice pre-amp. Try it as a pre-amp and you might appreciate the 400 xi more.

I went through the same thing last month; I listed my 400xi and the first day I received 2-offers for my asking price, but got cold feet and decided to keep it. The problem is, that when you take this Amp. to the local Hi-Fi Dealers and asked them to hook-it-up and better it. Noticable sonic improvements come-in at 3-4Xs its price. There are a lot of sideways moves out of this particular component, unless you are willing (and able) to commit the resource$ to move up the chain to reference-grade separates (or Krell's FBI), or if your Speakers don't require this much power, then you could move into a more refined, higher-quality, lower-powered Integrated Amp., possibly a tubed unit or hybrid. The 400xi seems to currently own the less-than $3,000 Solid State Integrated Amp. segment.

I agree with above - don't get too hung up on Damping factor. Above about 10 it likely makes very little audible difference.

BTW, Rogers. If I decide to use the pre-out ONLY, seems to me the 400xi and my 4 Bsst would draw a lot of current since the power amp section of the 400xi still operates as an intergrated amp. Should one send it to Krell to disconnect the power amp section ? I doubt I ever need more juice since my level of listenning is around 40 to 60 from the unit digital reading at the front window-display and my 40.2 Paradigm ( not sure its efficiency level)is 8 ohm.