I have owned a number of pieces of Krell over the last five years. I just sold an FPB 200 and have an FPB 700cx coming (hopefully today). The 200 never sounded bright. I would argue that any overly bright sounding amp is a result of a poor quality room. No one designs a piece of gear to sound bright.
Krell gear can be analytical, but that is more an attribute of their pre-amps than their amps.
My FPB 200 was not bright in the highs (in my room the highs were a little rolled off, but that was in my room), but at the same time I would not consider the mids to be 'liquid.' It offered a good, smooth midrange, but not to the point of being liquid. The bass was tight, and well defined, which very few tube amps, or SS for that matter are capable of doing.
The strong points of the Krell amps (Mostly the newer amps which are actually biased into class A to their full rated power) are their well defined bass and the large, detailed soundstage. Those are not the only positive aspects of Krell amps, but those are the ones that stand out most prominantly. They are capable (with good clean power) of bringing sound from a deep dark soundstage.
I have compared the Krell to similarly rated SS and tube amps, and the Krell does it better than the other amps I have heard. I have not heard anywhere near everything out there, but IMO the Krell does not have a strong, pronounced sound of their own. They have good control over what is supplied to them. Look upstream for the sound.
Krell gear can be analytical, but that is more an attribute of their pre-amps than their amps.
My FPB 200 was not bright in the highs (in my room the highs were a little rolled off, but that was in my room), but at the same time I would not consider the mids to be 'liquid.' It offered a good, smooth midrange, but not to the point of being liquid. The bass was tight, and well defined, which very few tube amps, or SS for that matter are capable of doing.
The strong points of the Krell amps (Mostly the newer amps which are actually biased into class A to their full rated power) are their well defined bass and the large, detailed soundstage. Those are not the only positive aspects of Krell amps, but those are the ones that stand out most prominantly. They are capable (with good clean power) of bringing sound from a deep dark soundstage.
I have compared the Krell to similarly rated SS and tube amps, and the Krell does it better than the other amps I have heard. I have not heard anywhere near everything out there, but IMO the Krell does not have a strong, pronounced sound of their own. They have good control over what is supplied to them. Look upstream for the sound.