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krell & merlin what next?

My friend just recently lent me his krell ksa150, to drive my merlin gen III. Prior to that I had been using a pass a40 which was very satisfactory, the pass is not very powerful but it is musical, I get engaged into the music. Then I got this krell and I noticed how the sound was effortless, there was no struggle , there was more power and thick sounding bass, high frequency was there -all of it, and it was detailed . But I wasn't engaged like I get when I use my pass amp. What amp should I look for if I like the power of the krell and the engaging sound of the pass? Parasound, joule, atmasphere, CJ mf2500a, ar, theta, berning, hovland, convergent. I am looking to get the best sound possible, I liked what I heard when I listened to JM Labs divas, kharmas 3.1 with joule stargate, dynaudio c4 and the mbl's $45k top the list thanks for looking.
pedrillo
xactaudio's avatar
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xactaudio
156 posts
 
10s...the Merlins are in my bedroom for now. A great speaker but I feel after two years of tweeking,I had just maxed out what I could do with them in my room. I have had a deposit with Bobby for his subs for about two years and when I did not see his subs at CES this year, I knew it was time to move on to the next level. So far the MBLs seem to be a fairly large step up in my system. As a side note, the Bernings are holding their own against some strong SS amps in driving the MBLs.
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
While the Joule, Berning, CAT are all natural choices, there isn't one clear best for all. Read the archives, and you'll see many detailed descriptions of the relative merits of each of these combos.
I've got the Berning & love it, but if I had a bigger room and the $$$, I'd probably buy the Joule monos...Cheers,
Spencer
abrahavt
101 posts
 
My Merlins sound great driven by a pair of Dehavilland 845Gs. A couple of dealers that I talked to who carry both the Dehavs and the Joules recommended the Dehavs with the Merlins.
tabl10s's avatar
tabl10s
1,075 posts
 
Abrahavt
How would you descibe the sound of VSM's and 845's?
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
"What amp should I look for if I like the power of the krell and the engaging sound of the pass?"

I also like the Pass very much, it is an extremely musical ss amp among the few ss amps I've heard that offers more than a bit of what tubes do well, sweet and open. Based on what you are asking for I would say the Berning fits the bill very nice. Low heat, dependable, long tube life, self-biasing, great bass, I mean this tube amp will hold its own against many ss amps out there in bass performance and exceeds virtually all I've heard in openness, this with a large variety of speakers.

The Joule is verrry nice but it is a more seductive sound and veers a bit away from neutral. I don't mean this in a negative way but I will say it doesn't have the liveness or present the dynamics shifts of music to the degree of the Berning but it may be more to your taste. It is very open sounding and separates instruments as well as anything I've ever heard. Massed vocals are magical with the Merlin/Joule combo. It will not sound like the Pass or Krell, the Berning would be closer in that regard. If your budget can swing it, I don't believe you will find a better match for your dollars than the zh-270 all things considered but listen to a Joule first, you may become smitten :^) On the other hand if you can't afford Joule just get a Berning and you'll be very happy, indeed!
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