Krell KAV300CD?

blbloom
Krell KAV300CD?

The Kav300 mkI or II sounds dam good, as it uses one of the best the R2R Ladder PCM1702K d/a converter chips, and the K is the selected one. And as a bonus uses the PMD 100 HDCD filter chip also very nice. If it doesn’t sound good it’s something else being shown up in the system
Also the lasers are cheap and easy to get still, should it need one.
It got a great review and measurements from Stereophile also.
https://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/638/index.html

KRELL KAV-300cd 2 x PCM1702-K – PMD100

VRDS CMK-4 – KSS-240A

KRELL KAV-300cd mk2 2 x PCM1702-K – PMD100

VRDS CMK-4.2 – KSS-213C

It also has a great very low 16ohm output impedance with good 2v fixed level so it could be a great candidate to be used with a passive pre like the $49 Schiit Sys and go direct to your power amp without any active pre in the signal path, then the transparency and dynamics should be insane.

Cheers George

check out my review of the wadia 850 at audioreview.com. i included a few thoughts about the kav300. basically, highly analytical and detailed. but a bit cold. the wadia (both the 830 and 850 [and probably now the 831]), on the other hand...

I demo'ed one for about a week. Used with my Krell FPB 200, Krell HRC preamp. B&W Matrix 800's with Purist Elementa cables. I wasnt impressed with the 300 at all. The detail is excellent. If there is anything on the CD, u will hear it with the 300. I just couldnt listen for more than 30 minutes or so b4 I had to turn it off or just lower the volume to very low levels. I thought it was way to bright/harse to listen 2 for extended periods of time. Thats just my 2cents tho. I ended up buying a Wadia 850. It was more $ but I'm happy with it.

I have owned a KAV300CD for about 3 years now. It is paired with the Krell KAV250 amp.& a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 preamp.It was a noticeable improvement over Audio Alchemy but I wouldn't spend my money on a new one today because I think you could get a bigger bang for your buck with some of the cd players that have come on to the market the last couple of years.If you can get a used one for around 2k it might be worth considering.