2. amps-preamps
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Krell guys please help new Krell owner with preamp

I have read about a million threads on the forum but never posted until tonight. Just this past weekend I picked up a Krell KSA 100S as my first power amp. I have been using a big receiver up until now. I am trying to figure out what direction to go for my preamp. My budget will allow up to $700-1500 if I buy soon. I am concerned with being able to integrate the preamp into home theater (dvd movies) and multi channel sacd/dvd audio once I get my rears. I am really concerned with having a great 2 channel set up. I currently am running it through my receiver(temporarily) and can't wait to get a good matching preamp for the Krell. My current system is as follows:
Harman Kardon AVR 7200
Yamaha S2300 universal player
Martin Logan Grotto sub
Coincident Speaker Technology Total Eclipse Rear (for front left and right)
B&W HTM 7 center channel
Audioquest Cheetah 24v IC
Van den Hul IC for power amp
Luminous Audio speaker cable

I really appreciate any help you can provide me. It seems like most people favor tube preamps to ss. What are fellow Krell KSA owners using for their preamp. Is their a magic match that I haven't read about yet?
nicksgem10s
4 responses Add your response
chdeforged96e
1 posts
 
Hi,

I have both a KSA100s & pair of FPB450mcx. I searched a long time for a good pre-amp match for those amps. In all the trials I did (Krell KCT, KRC-HT, KRC3; Goldmund; Levinson; Adcom), I found that the Pass Labs X0 & Audio Research Ref 1 were the best. I ended up with both. Depending on your budget I would recomend you try the Pass Labs X1, X2.5 or Audio Research SP9, they will bring out the best at a better price point. May be you should try a conrad johnson preamp as well.

Christian
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
Krell amps are fairly neutral and will pass any flavor of sound you would like. I have a tube pre-amp mated with my Ksa-250 at this time. Before this I had a Bent Audio passive for around a year.

Dave
testsp's avatar
testsp
4 posts
 
First let me tell you. Some tube preamps are very nice sounding. The problem is they must be matched with mostly tube amps. Input impedance plays a big role. Tube preamps use capacitors and that is a no-no for many hi-end power amps. It get even more technically so I won't bore you with tech talk. The very well designed Krell preamps will do fine. The matching preamp is Krc-2. The KRC AND THE KRC HR ARE EVEN BETTER. The Krc-2 is a 5000.00 pre amp that you can pick up used for about 1200.00. The Krc-HR for a around 3000.00. Good Luck
upgrade1394
1 posts
 
Hi Nick:
The KSA100S is a good entry into the Krell family- do not be fooled by the 100 watt rating. The B&W 700 Nautilus series is an excellent match for Krell electronics. I have had a similar set-up with the N705 + HTM7 driven by a KRC-3 preamp and a KSA-150 + Parasound amp for center. The Krell KSA-150 made beautiful music with my N705's and the KSA100S should do as well. I just replaced my KRC-3 with the Krell HTS2 processor. The KRC-3 is a superb pre-amp and also allows for theater thruput - I did use it that way for a while but could not justify the cost of keeping both units (HTS + KRC-3) since the HTS2 does provide an analog preamp mode. Bottom line- I recommend a KRC-3 (used price is 1000-1500) or shoot for a HTS (2 or 7.1). Enjoy the music.
PS: For some reason I also used a ML sub with B&W - mine was a Depth subwoofer.
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