Refurbish vs New Amplifier?


I have been enjoying a Krell KST-100 for many years. I am contemplating having it
refurbished at the factory (vs a local independent tech).
also under consideration --buying a new amp replacement. (Audio Alchemy? or similar priced amp
--perhaps even a used).
Wondering what a factory refurbishment would run me (rough idea) and if anyone knows a reliable tech
in NY-NJ-CT area. I actually live fairly close to Krell and could drop the amp off!
Also
Not having been in the market for a while--I wonder if at the $2K to $3k range a new amp would surpass the performance of the older Krell?
Finally--the reviews of the Audio Alchemy Amp (I have their DDP-! phono stage and power supply already and find them quite good) are pretty good. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
johnlnyc

Showing 2 responses by gs5556

Older amplifiers are almost always not serviced by the factory because the parts may be obsolete and they don't want to take the chance of damaging, say, a working transistor while in their care. The only option is  use a substitute which may not sound as good in the circuit. So essentially you lose your amplifier and how is Krell going to compensate you?

If you are looking to get it recapped, ask Krell who they authorized or recommend (i.e., Levinson advises you contact Pyramid Audio; don't know who Krell recommends).
cleeds:

AR refused to service my 100.2 last year because they didn't have all the parts for the amplifier. All I wanted were the caps replaced, which are stocked by Mouser and Digikey.  All they could say is they agreed that bulging caps could leak on the pcb and cause damage and should be replaced -- and wished me luck. Had to do it myself.