Krell HTS vs Proceed AVP

I have demoed all the above units as well..Here are my thoughts...

The Krell is full of bugs like the previous posters have noted. I really wasn't all that impressed with its sound quality either. Krell's name alone makes people tend to lean towards it by reputation only, but it actuality, their digital pieces of equipment really lack a lot compared to the Classe/Citation/Proceed/Levinson, etc. Now, what Krell does DO well and always have is their amplifiers. You will be hard pressed to find an amplifier than can match both the bass slam and the detail that the krell can bring out.
Overall, I think that HTS is about a 3/5 rating *audiophile level rating system*

The Proceed is my favorite...It is rock solid, very quiet, tons of inputs and sounds great in both 2 channel and movies. It also has broadbast quality S-video switching. In my opinion, this is a far superior pre-amp than the HTS is. 5/5 stars

The Lexicon I would stay away from...Sound is always interpreted differently by each listener, but the two-channel stereo sound really didn't impress me. In fact, I thought my old HK receiver sounded just as good and maybe better..Now for home theater, that is a different story..The MC-1 is awesome. Quite possibly the best home theater processor under 10k. Since I am more concerned with stereo sound, I give it a 2.5/5 rating.

The Citation is really the surprise here...I demoed all the above and settled on the Citation 5.0. I got one for a really good price and decided to get it. It is made by madrigal (same as proceed/levinson). For 2 channel stereo, it is better than ANY unit above. The only unit that I have listened to that sounded better in my system was the EAD Signature for two channel. For home theater use, it lags slightly behind the proceed and the lexicon, but not by much. 5/5 rating.

Anyway, just my two sense.. Feel free to email me with any questions..I have demoed nearly ever pre-amp in my system known to man...
1. Proceed
2. Citation
3. HTS
4. Lexicon

AggieBob98@home.com

Bobby

EricBee: Like I said earlier, it was the HTS1 which was what he was asking about and was about 1.5 years or so ago.
I have no experience with the HTS2, but the HTS1 had a notoriously bad rep in this area so several well known audio dealers (audioinsight/hillcrest) quit carrying them due to all the returns. Krell amps are first rate, but (maybe this changed with the HTS2) their digital units with the exception of the -25c CD player (20k unit) do not have a good rep.
A couple of bugs I saw first hand (again this is 1.5 years ago)
1) popping noise (loud) in the speakers when you adjust volume control
2) would have a lot of trouble automatically detecting a digital signal and in turn switching to the correct mode.
Although, those items are minor in details, I do remember my dealer stating there were others and reliability was in question at the time. I would appreciate it if you kept this discussion to a professional level as well instead of stating "you do not know what you are talking about." This is a free and opinionated thread and that is exactly what I was sharing.