Krell SACD, DVD Standard, Showcase, KAV 280CD

Krell makes great products! But I am not so sold on their disc players in terms of both best performance and reliability. Several of the products you have listed have known reliability issues. Additionally, there are numerous versions of several of these products as well, mostly updates due to problems with the prior release. So buying used takes a good understanding of which units are at risk for what failures. I am not a Krell basher, I own a FPB 300-C amp and the latest model HTS 7.1.

I would pass on the KAV-280cd based on age (too old now), plus the Showcase DVD sounds nearly identical on CD and you pick-up DVD. The SACD Standard (any version) is the best CD Player of the bunch, with the DVD Standard as a close second. Both are built like Tanks, and Krell fully supports both in or out of warranty. The decision between these 2 machines will come down to: do you own more DVDs than SACDs? I've owned them all in combination with the KAV-400xi. XLR ICs are a must with this group.

I came to the same conclusion as Sunset_ranch and out of the four I eliminated the 280CD and Showcase DVD. I was debating between the SACD and DVD standard and it's more of an availability thing now. I understand the SACD sounds wonderful on CD's, but I don't own any SACD's. I guess it's a matter of how close the DVD standard comes to the sound of the SACD standard. I have a couple leads on both an SACD and DVD standard so the one that comes thru first is the one I'll use and go from there.

My setup uses a balanced power transformer with Nordost Shiva power cords for the 400xi and DAC1 (soon to be DVD or SACD standard). Nordost Quattro Fil XLR interconnects and Red Dawn shotgun speaker cable.

The DVD standards have transport failure issues and you should be cautious as to which version you purchase. You should perform additional searches for forums on Krell disc players, there are a couple of forums that very clearly outline which units have which specific failures.

As to Krell supporting these disc drives, sure they will support them, but spending $2800 - $4500 to be forced to update it because they are no longer using the previous transport mechanism or laser assembly, is that really supporting a past product? I guess, because you end up with a "more current" version of the product.

Look, I love Krell amps, but proceed with caution and much research on their drives. I was at a friends house on Saturday and his $25,000 Krell CD player broke. Nothing major, just a very small little metal pin. Estimated repair cost by Krell: $500 + two way shipping. Local machine shop repair cost to drill out the broken off end of the pin and replace it with a new pin (machined from scratch) = $100.

Just be careful and do your research. Soundwise, the SACD standard (3 versions now I believe) and DVD standard (4 versions now I believe) both sound very good, not the best, but very good nonetheless. You can get better reliability and sound with either an Esoteric or evena Wadia (just to name 2).

I actually disagree with the above. I thought the 280cd was incredible....it has the famous BB 1704 DACs which many agree are the best DACs ever made. I loved the 280cd when I had it and would call it similar to the Esoteric X03SE with less definition and space, but very strong bass and resolution nonetheless.