Krell XD gear in the House Initial Impressions

HK Fan, wow if an end user posted this you would have no problem would you.

The fact that we are reporting that what the gear is doing and asking a valid question about burn in is that an advertisement as well?

We are not doing this with or without Walters blessing, if Walter has an issue than we will be happy to take down the post.

Dep14, where do we say in any of these posts that the Krell is superior or inferior to anything? The amps are sounding truly magical, after the electronics are burned in we will do a true head to head vs the T+A gear which is way more expensive.

The reality is we know how our Persona 9H sound with $50k worth of T+A electronics, which are rated in the uber echelon of audio gear, and right now with a bit of playing time the speakers are sounding quite fantastic, with $18k worth of Krell electronics and that is including the built in dac vs the $17-35k digital front ends we normally play with the $50k T+A stack, don’t you think that is a good indicator of how good or not good this Krell gear is?

We are happy to point out ways ours are different, in the case of Pass you may not have a fan, the Krell amplifiers fans you just don’t hear at all, the Krell amplifers have an intelligent bias scheme which gives you class A with less heat the Pass labs do not, the Krell amplifiers are less expensive the Pass 350.8 is $14,500 for 350 watts class A/B the Krell 300xd is $10,500 for 300 watts Class A the Pass labs amplifier is 125 lbs the Krell 90 lbs.

The honest fact that we don’t sell Pass makes a true side by side comparison impossible that is for people on the boards to do we would welcome a side by side comparison. Pass Labs amplifiers are very good we have had people check out the T+A gear vs the Pass Labs gear and these people have picked T+A over Pass Labs and that included a $12,500 Pass Labs integrated vs a $11,500 T+A 2500R integrated.

The fact that Pass Labs are much larger, way heavier, and their Class A amplifiers are rated by users to generate heat like a furnace do not speak to practicallity so we are not too interested in using an amplifier which has those characteristics.

As per sound quality Pass is known for being a warm sounding amplifier so is the new Krell. We have heard Pass Labs at clients homes and at shows and they are very good, there are certain qualities in the sound of these new Krell products that does seem to be unique to Krell, this glowing quality in the midrange and a very tube like sound, seems to be a hallmark of the XD circuit, the amplifers seem to be very quick as well.

DP we sell as you pointed out many excellent amplifiers right now we can compare the Krell to Parasound Halo amplifiers, T+A amplifiers, Conrad Johnson, Electrcompaniet, Anthem STR amplifier, Cary Audio, Manly Labs amplifiers and we have a BAT VK 255se are all possible comparisons as well as the Naim gear.

The point is when you have been doing this professionally for 30 years you tend to be able to judge a product fairly quickly sometimes you have to really play with a product for a while and sometimes you don’t.

The fact that we are really super excited by the Krell amplifiers is testement to how good they really are.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor new Krell dealers

"HK Fan, wow if an end user posted this you would have no problem would you. "

Absolutely not.  A consumer doesn't have a vested interest in publishing glowing reviews.  A dealer can't say that now can they?  

It's disingenuous at best and I'm happy to see most Audiogon readers agree based on the now deleted original thread, and the replies to your new ad, I mean independent 3rd party review.

So if formal reviewers said the same thing then you would have no problem with that correct?

If you follow our threads we called attention to a Micromega M100 an intergrated amp with dac and streamer that we thought was one of the best sounding products at its price range and boom guess what other people who purchased these units not from us by the way, reported the same thing, that the unit sounded and performed superbly and are in love with the sound that was before any published review, how did we know the Micromega was good becuase we were able to compare it to an NAD M32, a Naim Uniti Star, an Anthem STR, a Mytek amp and dac combo and a Nuprime amp and dac combo.

HK what you fail to understand is that there are not a lot of dealers who continue to bring in new lines vs the existing lines they have carried for years we pursue new and exciting products all the time providing they make sense based on their perceived price and performance.

"Initially, there’s no comparison between the two current models – the jump in resolution and musicality is massive. It’s like they are channeling the sound that made Krell famous, while incorporating the changes in technology that have come to be over the last 35 years."

"For some time, Krell amplification had taken on a bit of a forward, hyperdetailed sound. The new XD amplifiers have returned to more of that slight bit of warmth and tonal saturation, combined with a level of bass slam that made Krell famous. I’ll stick my neck out here and guess that this is a sound that more true music lovers might enjoy, and I’d put the tonality of the current XD amplifier more in the same ballpark as the other solid-state, Class-A amplifiers I truly love: vintage Krell, vintage Levinson, Pass, and Luxman. More of that kind of sound." 

"The folks at Krell are calling this “The New Sound of Krell,” but I submit that they’ve just returned to what made them great in the first place, bringing it up to date with the best advances in audio technology that have come our way in the last few decades. I’d say they’ve found their way back home. "

All the above from Tone audio. http://www.tonepublications.com/whats-new-homepage/krells-new-ibias-duo-175xd/

By your arguement the only way anyone can find out about new products is from end users posting on line which is fine but in reality what do you learn, you learn that amp x was better then amp y in this guys system, in our store we have many different products to choose from if that doesn’t put into perspective what does?

The best reviews are ones when the poster tested a whole bunch of products in the same way on the same system.

The fact that in this market you have very few dealers who have a selection in the New York area you have several major dealers who all sell Mcintosh, and Focal as some of their core products, this is not an indictment against them, but why do many dealers sell Mcintosh is it because their gear is taking audio in new directions or is it because Mcintosh is an easy comfortable brand that laypeople like the looks of as well as the storied history of the brand?

If you have an issue with us, don’t read our posts. There are many people who have found our reviews and findings postive, if you think the entire audiogon community is rushing to us to purchase products from us you are sorely mistaken.

The point is that the new Krell products are really fantastic and deserve to be promoted, purchased and enjoyed not because of us or because of a review, because they are really, really good sounding.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ