Hegel H390 vs Krell Vanguard digital integrates amps

I should add that I thought the RJ45 Network streaming on the KRELL internal DAC was not as good as my other streaming options. The optical Rendu was easily better. I forgot if I compared it with my mircoRendu.

If you have not heard Fibre then maybe the RJ45 is sufficient but after hearing the Fibre I totally dismissed the RJ45 streaming. That is a shame because the ROON Endpoint for the KRELL RJ45 has a volume control for the ROON client. All other Endpoints I use to the KRELL do not have volume adjustment. This adjustment is done inside the KRELL, not the client software.

@luckrainbow63 I tested the AMT3SE using XLR to the KRELL K-300i vs the USB on the KRELL. Both of them were streaming using Fibre with the only difference being slightly different USB cables to the DAC and the Linear Power Supply were not the same. The last 2 factors are not that big because I have flipped them around in other tests and I did not notice a difference.

The AMT3SE was preferred by me over the USB on the internal KRELL DAC. It was not a huge difference but enough that I will always use the AMT3SE with the KRELL from now on. I am wasting the internal DAC since I am now only using it for HDMI sources. Maybe also TOSLINK with YouTube but those are not sources I care about for the best sound. I guess the internal DAC will be a good backup DAC if anything goes bad with the AMT3SE.

The AMT3SE with the 2 Class A amps that I had in house has been magic.

@yyzsantabarbara I just order Krell k3000i from Illinois (Chicago) and will arrived on next Wednesday.and I will test. Krell internal dac to see how good they’re.if not then I will followed yours path way to buy AMT2SE. @yyzsantabarbara in 1 to 10 scales.how many scale you gave Krell internal vs AMT2SE? I have no good source like AMT2SE to compare them.But I will compare them with Helge H390 and McIntosh MA252 amps.I appreciated you for good efforts to test them and provide very detailed each Item you have own.

@luckyrainbow63 Problem with asking me is I may influence your decision. You could very well be happy with the internal DAC on the KRELL and not have the reaction I had.

With the tests I did will the 3 DACs and 3 streamers I came to some conclusions about the 3 DACs I have in the office.
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/check-in-how-quickly-are-streamers-and-servers-evolving/post?...

To summarize, the DAC3B and the AMT3SE while different in tone both had zero fatigue for me and were wonderful sounding. The DAC3B with both the KRELL and Benchmark stack. The AMT3SE with the KRELL. I likely will re-visit the AMT3SE with the Benchmark stack but my first test with that was not that positive. The AMT3SE may have not been properly broken-in with the pairing with the BM stack. I did that some time back.

The KRELL internal DAC had a slight bit of fatigue for me, even with my best USB streamer. I am very sensitive to this so it may not apply to others. I was a little disappointed in this result. If I did not have these 2 other great DACs I would likely be happy with the internal KRELL DAC. However, since I have these "better" DACs I will use those 2 over the internal KRELL DAC in all cases except watching video for the audio signal via the HDMI.

Congrats on the KRELL and please post your thoughts on it.

One thing that I do not have is an EtherREGEN for the cleanup of Ethernet signal. A somewhat controversial device but the RJ45 steamer of the KRELL is theoretically an ideal candidate for that device.