Krell 400xi vs NAD M3 vs Music Fidelity A5 vs Naim

I tested a Krell 400xi vs an NAD M3 and it was no contest - the NAD M3 was in an entirely different league. The 400xi had an odd, industrial sound. Excellent recordings could sound very good on it, though. The NAD M3 made everything sound fantastic and three-dimensional and allowed me to just enjoy the music rather than analyze it. I also heard things in my music that I had not heard before when using the NAD M3.

My impression is that the 400xi is a "love it or hate it" kind of product - it will either work well with your sources, speakers and hifi tastes or it just won't. For me, its character is too harsh and analytical and it is not very musical. I think there are better choices.

Drobbins, I agree with you on the Krell, it did have an industrial rather mechanical sound in my room, but I will say in fairness that I only had it for a weekend audition so my feelings are skewed by the shortness of time. I'll say that with the right speakers and source (possibly the Krell Standard?) running balanced, it could be a different story with the 400xi. Once again that old synergy and matching issue with speakers and ancillaries can change the whole presentation of an amp, integrated or separate. After all the integrateds I've tried, I eventually learned that I really had a lot to learn. Many of the pieces I've owned or auditioned could have been a completely different experience based on changing out the gear and cabling being run with them. I've coined a new term I like to describe high end gear, "chameleon." Many high end integrateds while having a partcular house sound and sonics can change like a "chameleon" depending on the speakers, cabling, and other ancillaries involved. Often I don't believe I've really known what the gear I've owned was actually capable of because of cabling, speakers and other ancillaries.

what about the Krell S-300i? i Have the JBL TL 260 limited edition speakers. Was thinking about the M3 too.

f one can afford Krell, they don't need anyone telling them what to buy; they can afford whatever they want. I, myself, have had NAD for over 20 years and not only is there nothing cheap about them, the only thing that sounded better than my 3400PE was the 2400 sister amp with a nice tube preamp; all the sweetness of tubes with power and headroom to drive any loudspeaker. I don't think I'll ever again be satisfied with another integrated.