Krell XD gear in the House Initial Impressions


For those who were following a post we started a few weeks ago about considering bringing in Krell gear here is our follow up post after we just received the display gear.

We had 0 interest in adding Krell to our product portfolio before attending the Capitol Audio Fest we almost missed the room it was on the First floor in the back and it was VPI's room and we are not VPI dealers so it was almost a fluke that we even poked in. The huge Wilson Alex's were beckoning us in, so we decided to take a brief listen.

The sound in this room was mesmerizing, someone played Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side and there in three dimensions was Lou Reed and the three back up vocalisits, the sound was smooth, engaging, transparent, and has a sense of presence that made you take notice. 

So we started looking at the setup, VPI table $15k, Soundsmith cart $8k $110k Wilson speakers, lot of expensive Nordost Vallahalla or Odin but what was driving this insanely good sounding rig there in the bottom of the rack were two Krell 300XD amplifiers and a Krell preamp. 

Here was the best sound at this entire show, and the electronics were a fraction of the price of all of the other reference setups which were $80k monoblocs amplifers, $40k reference preamps and other such expensive gear. 

So we figured we would give the Krell a try part of the reason was logistics, powering our Paradigm Persona 9H is a $50k set of the phenominal T+A electronics from Germany, a $19.5K 300 Watt power amplifier, a $16.5 preamplifier and an optional outboard power supply at $13.5.

We have no issue with this gear it is incredible, however, we didn't have in this room a set or electronics which we thought would really give the T+A stuff a run for its money and yet be more affordable, so the Krell 300XD amp at $10,500 plus their Illusion 2 preamp/dac at $8k we thought would bring the price of doing a top notch system with the Personas down a bit in price and perhaps be a nice addition to our other electronics lines of T+A and Naim for top of the line solid state gear.

We hooked up the new Krell gear yesterday and even after only 24 hours of break in the sonic signature is very similar to what we heard at the Capital Audio Fest. 

The new Krell gear was liquid in the midrange, with nylon strings having the right type of roundness that makes acoustic guitar sound so right, tight well defined midbass, excellent rhythmic control, good top end extension with a slighly soft warm top end, and a big dimensional soundstage.

One of our questions is are there anyone on the boards who has this combo in particular the 300XD power amplifier and the illusion 2 preamp/dac we are currious to the affects of break in and how they improve. 

The sound after only 24 hours of initial plug in and break  in the gear is allready sounding ridiculous good how much better does it get and in what ways?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ  new Krell dealers




128x128audiotroy
@michaelgreenaudio
Great post and definitely a perspective to consider. I never knew the old Krell, but I do like the new Krell. I’ve been through many 7 channel amps, and this Theater 7 is my favorite (and it's not even the XD version). I also don’t mind the Dealers posting here. It’s actually nice to still have some dealers around. By the way, my friend Steve here in Phoenix has a room with your pressure zone controllers. It’s absolutely amazing what those do for the sonics and soundstage in that room - much better to me than typical acoustic treatments I’ve heard in the past - the music sounds so alive and so well placed. Honestly, if I had a dedicated room, I’d be hitting you up for a setup.

Anyway, back to Krell. Again, if anyone gets the upgrade for a Theater 7, I’d be very curious to hear about it.

Dave

Thanks Dave!

PZC's are a lot of fun! I've been looking for a cool place to put a Tunable Room in close to the Vegas Strip. When I do you and Steve might want to make a road trip. Pretty trippy hearing the full tunable system. I had one setup here (full of PZCs) but it was too far from the airport.

Dan and Krell were such a big part of the "Golden Ear" age of audio it's nice to see both of them getting mentioned again. Once upon a time there wasn't a week go by when I didn't hear from a Krell system owner or reviewer somewhere in the world wanting my help tuning it in.

Tell Steve I said hello!

mg

Hi Steve, good to see you! Would you mind emailing me some of the room pictures? mgtune@yahoo.com

I'd like to do a feature on my most recent Forum.

Also, next time Harold is down your way would you mind showing him your place?

thanks!

mg