Not happy with Krell SACD


I have listened to about 25 cd's and a limited amount of SACD's and I am not satisfied with the sound of the Krell SACD Standard. For whatever reason it is far too bright for my ears. It is actually fatiguing at times and I do not want to listen for more than a few minutes. Has anyone found this to be true or have another opinion? Do you have any suggestions?
Dr John
drjohn
I have owned a Krell SACD Standard for over 3 months and it does need at the VERY LEAST 100 hours to break in. Although the Krell may fall short on the build quality when compared to my Wadia 860x, it does however sound incredibly natural and open, never harsh or bright. Also, make sure you are running it balanced and not single ended. I believe the Martin Colloms ran the Krell single-ended for his review. Watch for the Krell SACD on the cover of the December Stereophile.
I have one and I use a orpheus sennheiser with a dac in, the Krell is less open but more natural, I guess that he must to be open in a few hours of play time. But I love this analytic sound, a little cold but real.
Niconico
Krell seems to have a certain brightness to it. I agree with one person who said to wait until it is broken in to judge. I would also suggest you express the problem to your dealer and see if they will let try one that is broken in. Typically I noticed a more muddy sound in unbroken in equipment but I am no expert on that topic.
SoGood 51 - Dave, thanks, I will go there and take a look.
Drubin - Cary 308
Krelldog - I agree it could be made a bit better but sound quality is paramount here.
Theo - Sunfire TGIII, Sunfire Cinema Grand Sig, PSB Stratus Gold
Tony007 - Thanks, I will take a look
Raquel - I do not see how it can make a huge difference but I will try to give it time.
J1a - My pre-pro does not have balanced input, so I used an adapter since I did not have much choice.
Drjohn,
Being the owner of an SCD-1,I can tell you that break-in is very real. It was my first decent player so I liked the sound right out of the box. At about 200 hrs it started to really open up, but it did'nt get great until about 400 hrs or so. I could'nt believe the day to day differences I was hearing. So give it a little time and enjoy. Gary.