"Krell" is a buzzword


When I look at how the posts involving Krell deteriorate to the point of civil(actually not so civil) war, I have to say that "Krell" has become a buzzword. It seems as if you just have to mention the name, and the mobilization begins. Sooner or later the insults sink to the level that make the thread completely unrecognizable from the original question. I am more neutral than not on Krell(probably not many of us around). Used to dream about them in my bigger is better solid state days, but have since moved in other directions. Now I am a definite tubeophile, and don't even think about Krell. But, I don't say you cannot build a great system around their products. Just have to apply the right surrounding components. But don't you have to do that with many brands of amp? So, do you agree that Krell has become a buzzword, and why?
trelja
I can type and listen at the same time. I just do it to the tempo of the music. I wonder if it would be harder with a "high priced" stereo?
The way I see it is that Krell is well marketed and "expensive", and for any audiophile reading the ads and reviews, Krell is in your face to the extent that you are under pressure to aspire to own a Krell. A lot of the marketing is just about that - getting new audiophiles to aspire to a Krell so you catch them later when they are ready to buy. This is not dissimilar to branding of BMW, Rolex etc. The flipside is that the pressure to aspire to it can also cause people to prefer to "bag" it rather than aspire to it. This polarised reaction is typical of heavily marketed products. It is true that some of the motivation to "bag" Krell is to make people that cannot afford it feel better about this fact, but it is not the only reason. If Krell was merely rubbish, this would not result in the emotional negative feelings about it. If Krell was merely rubbish, it would engender the same feelings as audiophiles have for Bose. The fact that many audiophiles have clearly not only aspired to Krell but also like it means that Krells must sound OK too. If I was Krell, I would be pretty happy about the polarised response - far better that than a luke-warm one.
Dekay, how can you type sitting in front of your computer, while trying to listen to music at the same time? Wouldn't you be out of the "sweet spot" of you system set up...which we all have spent too much money trying to achieve in the first place? Sounds ironic to me.
Margin, you are one to talk about showing off money. "Margin Call", an obvious bragadocia, that you either own many stocks, or are a broker, or are pretending same. I should call myself "got it all", and then I would be like you. I'm just getting started in the stock market. Is a gain of 5000% in a single day a good time to sell that stock? I need to know, because I now have more money than sense, and am contacting Bill Gates to ask if he'll shine my shoes for me....
Garfish...sorry to have offended. You obviously hold Trelja in very high esteem and feel the need to come to his defense. But you miss my point. I have been a serious audiophile for 25 years and I do not see the value of threads like this. That's my opinion. I regularily read numerous audio publications and the only place I see all of this Krell bashing, not to mention the bashing of several other well regarded aduio companies, is on Audiogon. Cornfedboy said it well...buzzard words indeed! Krell and other companies like them would not be where they are today if they were making junk, and while it may not be to everyones taste it is obviously quality equipment. If there is something seriously wrong with a company's product or really bad customer service then that is something worth knowing about, but that is not the case here. You may have great respect for Trejla and value his opinions, which is fine by me, but I find nothing particularily intelligent about this post and feel it only adds fuel to an argument that does nothing to further the enjoyment of this hobby. And Craig, I do on occasion post an opinion on Audiogon, but it is usually in response to a specific question about some audio gear I have had personal experience with and never to bash it. Even if I did post all the time would that necessarily make me any more credible to you or anyone else. I think it only would if you happened to agree with my opinions. And I have not judged you or any others based on the number of postings on Audiogon. By the way, and for what it's worth, I have never owned any Krell equipment (I own a pair of BEL amps,a Modulus 3A preamp, a Audio Logic DAC, and an EAR phono preamp), but I have auditioned some and thought it was very good.