Mark Levinson No. 20.6 vs. Krell KRS 200 vs. Krell KAS

Hi Dave:

Sounds Very Interesting with those DR-9's. I hope that you will be able to get that Upgrade-kit for the other one as well, so that you can drive them Bridged. What are their watts as Stereo Amps??? 50W? 100W? I suppose, that if they are for instance 100W, then you should be able to Quadruple the Amount of Watts to about 400W when bridged, Correct Dave??? I at least remember this from my early hi-fi days back in the late 80'es and early 90'es, where I had a couple of 100 Watt NAD 2200PE's, which nominally were 100Watts in Stereo, but a Whopping 400 Watts Bridged. Together with a couple CW D-9E, They Definately Rocked The Interior Pants off Your Grandmother, jijiji!!!

A guy I know in the states, which I have talked to about His  and Mine No. 20.6's, has TWO Pairs of No. 20.6's. One pair he bought around 20 years ago and they have been stored in their boxes for all this time. He wanted to sell them at first for $10.000USD, but retracted the add, since he would rather try to bridge them, so as to get more Power to his B&W 801N's. I haven't heard if he has done it yet, but one of these days, I'll drop him a line or two, to see how THAT project is going.

I would love to hear, how and when you are coming along with 1) Finding the up-grade kit (Have you seached on ebay??? Sometimes you can find some pretty odd and rare things there!!!??? 2) Getting them into Bridge Mode (Is it just a switch on the back of it or is it more complicated than that???

Yeah its fine, to crank up the volume on the Krells, but I Cherish More The Silent Nights at 9-10 O'Clock in The Evening or Later still, where everybody has gone to bed, including my wife and then Gently and Fluently raise the volume JUST ENOUGH, so that you can hear all details. That is why I have invested heavily in cables, so as to hear the finest details at LOW Volumes. That is in MY opinion, what separates a High-End Stereo from a Normal Hi-fi or Low-end Stereo, that you falsely believe, that if you crank up the volume, you'll hear more low level detail...WRONGGGG!!! You'll hear more of EVERYTHING and thus the sound that obscured the low level detail before at LOW volume levels, will ALSO obscure these same low level details, when you crank up the volume...

Lot's o' Luck, with finding that kit, but until then, you can still enjoy the stereo version at low volume levels, where it counts...

Have a Great Audio Day.

Sincerely Thomas.

Hi jafant:

Thanks, we think so too, I believe I speak for everyone. Please join the conversation. What gear do YOU have???

Have a Great Audio Day, jafant.

Sincerely Thomas.

Hi gs5556:

Thanks for your feed-back. I don't know the CAT Pre-amp. Have got to search on it.

I myself have a No. 28, which in MY opinion is The Best Pre-amp I Personally have ever heard and as I say in the other thread I sent you, I've had both the Audio Research LS26 (The one JUST below the renowned Reference 3) as well as the Pass XP20, which supposedly should be one of the best pre-amps in the world at the time of around 2009-2013 and in my opinion the No. 28, although it has more than 20 years on its back, beat BOTH of them in terms of Preciseness, Goldenness and Passion for the music in general. Yes There exists both the No. 26S, 326S and The No. 32, but another guy I talked to, which has had all of the above, said he loved his No. 28 and did NOT think, that none of the above were an approvement over the No. 28. They may have been different in their respective sound, but all in all NOT an improvement. the only one who in his opinion significantly beat the No. 28, was his new No. 52, but here we are also talking about a $30.000USD investment or MORE, if you buy it in Europe, where it is around 30.000 Euros. The No. 52 is my ULTIMATE Dream Pre-amp, but that won't be for a while...Say 20 years or more!!!???

Have a Great Audio Day gs5556.

Sincerely Thomas.

Hi rcprince:

Thanks for your comment. It may be, that the 20.6's are a little on the dark side, although I certainly don't feel that way. In comparison to my Stax DMA-X2's, which I has between 2006-2009, they were a Significant Improvement in casting light on the soundstage. The Stax's were MUCH Darker in this Discipline.I feel the 20.6's cast exactly the amount of light onto the soundstage as they are supposed to and I don't feel, that I miss out on anything there. They have the exact same brightness as my Pass XA160.5's I had between the Stax's and my 20.6's, so I feel they are very correct in this aspect.

I don't think the KRS's will do much in that direction either, but it'd still be an experience of proportions, to have them standing in my livingroom, but I believe, that it should NOT be at the expense of my 20.6's as they are and I believe that they will be for a Very Long Time, My Ultimate References at which I Judge Other Amps.

Have a Great Audio Day rcprince.

Sincerely Thomas.