Do they still make SACD Standard mk III ? The player just disappeared from Krell´s web page. |
The standard went missing over a month ago...no direct replacement in development. The MKIII is pretty much a 505 without cast connections. It is strange how the MKIII version was produced just as they decided to retire the player(of course two high priced/hiRez players in their lineup would be overkill). Krell is struggling to survive in the high end arena...I hope they can focus on what's important for their buyers, or else they will continue to decline. |
One week of 24/7 burn in and occasional listening sessions complete. Transport and unit functioning flawlessly. No skipping or excessive noise. Mechanical noise level decreased a little as a result of the constant running. Still needs to break in some more. I will give it another 2 weeks for a total of 500 hours and report back. |
Joeyboynj, Peter Mackay at Krell has ok'd me to recieve a new SACD MKIII as well for all my troubles!! Can't wait...what have been your sonic hallmarks so far compared to the VII unit? |
Got mine today in Germany in exchange for my old MK1 device (+ 2000 Euro + 19%tax). Sound is brilliant (would say better as before) and the transport is quieter but also takes a few seconds more to recognize a SA/CD. It can also play MP3 44.1KHZ CDs. The new blue/white LCD display now can show CD/track title - however, it seems to be a bit too small to exactly fit into the chassis box of the old display - cosmetically not perfect! The new remote does not let you select a filter or dim the display anymore and also hasn't that fluorescence effect of the old one - so if you are going to trade-in your old player keep the old remote! Conclusion: Imho it's worth upgrading due to the better sound and better transport and control boards which apparently were taken from the EVO player. In most parts it's a 505 EVO in a SACD Standard chassis - unfortunaley some of these 505 parts weren't designed for use in the SACD Standard - so it's not as perfect as you would expect for a device carrying such price tag. Maybe one of the reasons that they pulled it from their website. |
Has anybody figured out what krell does for the MKIII upgrade?? I got mine back and it is the finest CD player I have ever heard...which is quite a bit! |
Interesting thing is that they pulled the mk III from their web site (and prolly cased the production as well). My guess is that too many owners of mk I and mk II requested the mk III upgrade free of charge. |
Sad that such a great sounding SACD player (finally) will be no more...except in my house baby!! |
Just got sad news:Krell ran out of chassis supports for Raymedia transport and my unit replacement will take 2 more weeks.Can anybody tell me how to tell Raymedia drive from the Philips one?I don't trust anybody anymore and just want to make sure the drive is replaced.Thanks. |
Raymedia has a blue backlight wt white script, it is fast and it is silent....oh, and man is it worth the wait! Are you getting the MKIII update? |
My SACD Ver 3 unit has over 500 hours of burn in and no problem. Dave, I hope your replacement unit is working well.
To everyone, the upgrade is well worth it. Runs quiet and fast and the display is way better than the red one.
Anyone else get a new or upgraded unit let us know what you think. |
My unit is breaking in nicely. The V3 version is definately a big plus...quiet, fast and more open sounding with greater power! I was lucky to have mine updated for no charge due to prior service issues. |
Hi all,
A couple of weeks ago I had to return my SACD Standard MkII, still under warranty , to the local Krell distributor, as the drive mechanism had failed. They have sent it back to the US for repair, and told me it will come back with the Evo drive mechanism installed, as mentioned above.
Does this mean I will get a full MkIII upgrade stuffed in my old chassis, or will they just install the minimum parts necessary, i.e the drive mechanism, LCD display and logic circuits, without upgrading the audio circuitry? I am very curious as to what I will get back!
Kind Regards
Mick |
Mickey, the full upgrade is kind of a discretionary event. By that I mean Krell does not exactly offer an upgrade path for the SACD standard. Rather they replace and repair what is necessary for them to return to you a working unit. As with anything in life, negotiation is often the key to getting what you desire. My unit had blown something and went dead, plus I had prior drive failures (off and on). My unit was purchased within the last year and was under warranty of course. I also reminded krell that I had purchased about $100K worth of stuff over the years as well and would appreciate some consideration for the loyalty. The way you can tell when the unit is returned is by looking inside through the top vent slits....old circuitry used a green circuit board with mostly silver capacitors and such attached. The V3 guts use a blue tinted circuit board with alot of red capacitors? and such attached. The sound will be different as well...more detailed and forcefull with greater dynamic range and more vivid imaging. |
got one last month to replace mk2 which replaced mk1. quiet and quick operation, and bigger soundstage with better detail. closer to evo sound than to mk 2 sound. be warned - if u changed cables to suit your mk 2, then youll have to do it again, thats how different it sounds. try to 'forget' to give back the old remote control - new ones rubbish. what happened to the big metal ones we used to get? |
I got mine mkIII 10 days ago.No need for cable change here (i am using VH Flavor 4).So far-perfect.For some reason refuses to play David Gilmour cd "On the Island"Both remoes are junk.I wish they had an option for the metal one with like only 6 buttons.I would love to disconnect other channels and replace RCAs (too short,too close)but knowing it's history afraid to void the warranty. |
Mine will not play a new DECCA release of the Beethoven Sonatas Disc 1..Disc 2 is fine! Sometimes it also will play Disc 1, maybe 1 in 5 times. When it identifies the disc it will play it flawlessly on repeat..go figure. FYI, when I first got the player back from repair I had it linked via the 12 volt trigger to my 400xi and experienced a couple of data drops..instantaneous ones. I decided to disconnect the trigger and it has been flawless since? Maybe the connection opens it up for electrical hiccups that the 400xi may experience from the power line? |
I second the opinion that the old remote is better..the new one is quirky and unreliable. FYI, get some mapleshade heavyfeet and heavyhat weights for the SACD Standard and use them into wood (butcher block or maple)...your jaw will drop at how vastly improved an already great player can sound!! |
I have had mine for a month now and it has started to open up. What a HUGE upgrade from the MK2. It is a whole different world. The unit is still breaking in- it just keeps getting better and better. Well worth the upgrade! Well worth the wait-8 weeks! |
My unit is working well and sounding phenomenal. It does take a few hundred hours for this puppy to open up and even out, but worth it for sure. Not bad sending in a broken unit I paid $3200 for and getting back a $6000 player at no charge...that's sweet! |
