All the politics aside I reiterate that I have very high expectations from audio gear purchased and the three pieces I now have exude quality and performance commensurate with price. Chorus 5200, Foundation 4K and two box Phantom preamp. I also am fortunate enough to have Agostino, Wilson and Bricasti so I have some idea of what high end gear should sound like along with build quality. Its definitely worth checking out especially because of heavy discounts no doubt in part due to some of the negative feelings expressed herein.
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That's interesting because I owned a lot of Krell gear from FPB thru current gear and I prefer the new stuff. To each his own!
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Read the review from Mikey! Buttery....lacking bottom end grip? More tightly focused? My read is the Dartzeels are severely colored and lacking in performance. Also read the associated equipment...wow, good luck judging anything through that maze:() |
None of these comments stopped me from just purchasing a recently recapped & serviced FBP-300 amp which should arrive from Krell in a few days. It's been over 20 years since I sold my KSA-50.
After recent searches led me to 30yr old Sound Lab speakers and a Technics SP10mk2 table circa 1980, I am in my own time warp lately. Let's hope I don't go back to cassettes recorded from my LPs too. IMHO the first FPB series from '96-97 was right in Krell's sweet spot and I look forward to getting it up and running here. Cheers,
Spencer |
sbank, having owned everything from the KMA 100s all the way up to the FPB 700C, I believe you will be happy. I still have a KSA 250S which is a 250 upgraded to Sustained Plateau Biasing. It still sounds great.
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Any defense of Krell is not what they've done with anything outside their amplifiers. That they can somehow degrade and/or get rid of everything else w/o it affecting the amps is an interesting point of view. D'agostino the company appears to be growing & introducing new products at the rate Krell is shrinking & refusing to introduce & improve anything. The irony definitely leads somewhere. Most here understand buying the best of what Dan designed, preowned & revivifying it is far better value & quality then buying what's currently sold under the Krell name.
Krell will continue to shrink, deepening its unblemished history over the last 8 years of improving & introducing nothing & having ever decreasing profits bled from it, until it is no longer viable. Then the name & what assets are left will be unsentimentally sold to the highest bidder. The only interesting question is whether Dan will be interested at that point.
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Dan is now Boutique...Krell is more mainstream for sure. All of this blather is just noise however. One buys what one likes and can afford. It's all good stuff...enjoy! |
I dont like the current styling. For a premium product it should look much bettet. |
I agree foey but Krell has never been very attractive to me although I have always liked the sound.
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I love my Vanguard, built like a tank and uplit blue light looks great! |
I really wanted to test-drive the 330i and 550i integrateds- those (2) models were junk sourced to china for undisclosed reason? |
Undisclosed? Technically maybe so. But cost considerations completely rule all policy at Krell for some time. Only less expensive versions of what came before (that hasn’t been deleted altogether), heavily discounted by their shrinking group of dealers, are their reality. The anchor will continue on it’s way downwards until selling it is more profitable then bleeding it for cash. A matter of when - not if. This is what happen when a particularly soulless & aggressively unimaginative firm takes over. Its time for it to be put out of its misery and/or let someone ease reincarnate it into something better (difficult to not do so). Perversely fascinating to see how the mighty have fallen, but beyond that......
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John 1 has come out of retirement apparently to enlighten us on the ways of audio! Jeepers, thanks so much audio guru guy...I'll bet you have added a lot of insight over the years. Can't wait to read your other informative posts. What? No posts? Darn...I'll just have to suffer in darkness. |
I actually bought a Chorus 5200 a month or so ago and I am blown away. I feel like I'm hearing my ML electrostats for the first time. But I had only been using an AVR the whole time, no dedicated power amp. I did an a/b w/ Parasound at the store I bought from, and I slightly preferred the Krell. I got a steal on the floor model which also led to my decision. I must say, I think the build quality is excellent, and mine actually has an all black faceplate - the shop I purchased from had Krell install rack ears, and they swapped the faceplate. So, for me, I love the look too! I'm a newbie though, so take that for what its worth LOL |
Can anyone point me to one of the big krell discounting dealers. I'm looking for a duo 125 or 175. Thanks! You can private message me too! |
To anyone who is a Dan D'Agostino fan, go audition one of his current amps from D'Agostino Master Audio Systems. I did, and bought an S-250. I found it more musical in my system, and to my ears, than at least a dozen competitors, both tube and solid state. |
I know this is an old thread, but for anybody who might come across this in 2020, I want to say that I'm a recent Krell Konvert and I think the Vanguard and Connect streamer are mind-blowingly good. I had a wonderful Benchmark DAC3 and very good class D amp and the Krell kombo absolutely krushes them. I paid the same used as the others cost new, and I'm in a different galaxy of clarity, power, bass grip, soundstage depth. |
Which Krell are you using? |
Krell was the master of doubling down,........what happened??
Stereo, monos, not close to the once doubling down.
Did they not use enough transistors, or use a small power transformer? |
No one ever really doubled down if you look at the measurements. Companies understate the output at 8ohms so it looks like the amplifier is doubling at 4ohms. The trend now if to give the actual 8ohm power output and the actual 4ohm outputs. Some reviews can actually make it look like you are getting better results. The review may say though X amplifier's state output is 500 watts into 8ohms we measured 650 watts! It was always 650 watts and the company already knew it. They just made the math "perfect," for example by saying something like 500 watts into 8ohms and 1000 watts into 4ohms when it really was 650 into 8ohms and 1000 watts into 4ohms. Pick an amplifier that is stated to "double down" and then find a review with actual measurements.
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