Pass labs krell parasound amps

I have had Pass Labs, Parasound, a lot of Adcoms, Gryphon, Classé and probably some more. Then I discovered Krell for about 20 years ago. Started with KSA 150 then five more KSA 150 (have a total of six), one KSA 250, two FPB 300cx and four KAS2 monoblocks. I also have had Krell 300S but that was a short visit in my house. The Krell S series sound does not suite me. I only use Krell preamps like KCT, a couple of KRC-HR, KRC 3, KSP 7B etc. My speakers are solely old Infinitys IRS series (Beta and Epsilon) and RS Kappa series (a couple of Kappa 9 and 8) They are hard to drive but my Krells that I use every day have absolutely no problems with them. The sound is warm, detailed and the Krells can deliver very much power. Very important is that the Krells manage to sound warm, detailed etc even at low volumes with my speakers. I think they are the only ones of all poweramps that have manage to do that. For my main system I use four Krell KAS2 monblocks, second system I use two FPB 300cx, third, fourth system is different combinations KSA poweramps. (bi and tri-amping. I used to have a pair of Revels, dont remember which ones, medium size and price, and every single one of my Krell poweramps (except the S series) handled those easily. Probably nothing wrong with Krells S series but I found those to analytic and lacking a bit of "warmth". Within Your budget I would go for a pair of freshly recapped Krell FPB 750 MCX. I hardly think You will be disappointed. Good luck! (I have absolutely no interests in the Krell brand or company. I am a Swedish lawyer who just love the sound of Krells)

@dclone I have to agree on the krell 300s, I have one and it was too bright until I put a good tube preamp in front of it.

@jl35 I haven’t had the opportunity of trying out Pass amps in my set up.  Their reputation though is stellar.  Nelson is a legendary designer that uses high quality parts with top notch engineering.  If you like their sound signature, hard to go wrong with Pass.

Parasound, I’ve had the A21 in my set up.  The A21 + is a great value, punches above its weight class for sure, not really in the same league as Pass, Krell or Coda which was referenced in the thread. 
 

I had a Coda CSiB integrated that I was able to compare to both the Krell 300i integrated and the Krell 300XD Duo amp.  The Coda was fantastic, uses the 8’s amp section.  The Krell XD gear has a magic, liquidity, sweetness to the sound while maintaining the drive, control over the speaker that made Krell legendary.  Important to clarify it’s their latest XD gear.  That said, their co-founder, Dan’s ex wife recently passed away, Krell’s future is a little cloudy.  
 

I recently brought a Coda 07x Pre into my system, had me thinking about replacing my Krell amp with either the 8 or 16.  Reached out to Coda to see which amp would be comparable to the 300XD and they said the 16 was the amp to look at.  My thought process was as good as the Krell sounds would the Coda Pre sound even better with a Coda amp.

For my system, the Krell is special, to my ears bested Coda and Parasound.  Build quality, parts used, Pass or Coda is likely a bit better though I’ve never compared them on that level.  The Coda 16 is likely a game changer, beast that should deliver the best of SS with some of the attributes those who favor tubes.  If it’s me, I’d take a long look at Coda, if I could find a good deal on a used Krell 300xd or the integrated 300i I wouldn’t to hesitate to jump on either.  Good Luck!  

@dclone , have you tried any of the more current Krell products?  Most of your Krell products were made in Krell’s heyday period some 20+ years ago.  

@testpilot I am sorry to say that I have not got the opportunity to listen to the new XD series. In Sweden there is no hifi dealers that have them for demo so there is no chance to listen before buying and it is to much money to just buy without having the chance to evaluate. Krell had a "dark" period, I think it is after the Evolution series, with some series of, according to me, bad quality and sound. I am reffering to some KAV products and multichannel gear. I believe they now are back on track with the XD and i series. I prefer my older gear even if the are enormously powerhungry and gets hot because they work in class A and, my Infinitys sounds wonderful and needs huge class A amps. One must be aware of that they all need a recap and renovation but with that done they will sound amazing for another 25-30 years.