Krell vs Levinson vs Pass vs Rowland

Lev335 Sonic differences between 200 and 200 cast,
and are they speaker dependent?

Jadis, have you heard the Krell plus Hovland combination?

I have not heard krell and any tube pre. I have heard the krell fpb300 (and an all krell set-up) through my speakers and loved the sound, as well as I heard the 334 through my speakers and loved the sound also. The problem is I heard both set-ups a long long time ago and cannot really make a decision based on that.

I do feel the krell is a little harsh, thus a nice tubey preamp might make it a special combo? Or is this combo just a levinson??? See my dilemma?

I love the attack and dynamics of the krell and Levinsons, but have not heard the new Pass gear or the rowland with my speakers.

I guess if I had tons of dispensible cash laying around I could buy all 4 and decide at home, then just sell the ones I don't want. But who has this kind of cash??

Lets see, you have Rowland, which is very music sounding, and then there is Krell and the rest.

May be overkill at this point but I would say Rowland too. The MLs seem somewhat dead with most speakers I have heard them on, Krell is not smooth enough, and the Pass Labs go against all logic for longterm use with their ridiculous no-feedback circuits - although they do sound good for the first year. Rowland is beautiful sounding (almost as good as my favorite McIntoshes) and good design. In being an electronics engineer, I rank circuit design second to music in importance). Listen to them all if you can first however and decide for yourself.