MOON I-5 versus KRELL KAV 400XI

I've got the Krell. My impressions. Clear and detailed, glasslike clarity. A little cold. Papery vocals. Solid, refined and taut bass. Will give you what's on the recording. GIGO.

Endless clean power. Never runs out of steam. Clips at 280 wpc. Rated at 200 wpc 8 ohms. Doubles down at 4 ohms.

So, very good but the antithesis of tubes. SS character all the way.

ok, thank you very much for your comments.

I'm not quite sure where a lot of people find the Krell KAV-400xi to be cold sounding. I never found that at all. Perhaps there are some people saying this without hearing it based on a supposed Krell reputation of being cold in the past or earlier versions such as the 300i being cold. I myself found it to be quite neutral or just ever so slightly leaning towards the warmer side. I lived with this piece for a number of months when I was a Krell dealer to evaluate it and was fairly impressed.

I found it interesting that "Soundstage!" also had the same finding in their recent review. "The KAV-400xi tends towards a slightly warm sound, never straying into a cool, sometimes clinical realm".

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/krell_kav400xi.htm

I've heard good things about the Moon I-5, but haven't listened to it myself, so sorry that I can't help you there.

I do however have another excellent option that you may want to consider. Feel free to email me if you're interested.