Levinson or Krell


I am currently putting a seperate listening room in my home and have listen to a wide variety of equipment. I have a pair of Wilson Watt Puppy 6's and I am currently shopping for amplification. I also own a Mark Levinson 38s pre and a Wadia 270 transport\Wadia 27ix dac. I have heard the Krell 350mcx's on the Wilsons and like the sound very much however I have heard lots of good things about Levinson 33H's paired with these speakers. I have yet to hear the Wilson/Levinson combo and I am open for suggestion.
rjr1
IMHO the Wilsons sound more like live music with Krell. The Levinson doesn't seem to have the speed and dynamics that the Krell provides. Just my opinion. You should be able to audition both with out to much effort. At these prices, I'd listen to a lot of alternatives as well. I haven't heard the Wilsons with as many other electronics as the previous posts. Though I haven't heard the Wilsons with them, I have always liked the Pass gear!
People who say that the new Krell amps are not musical and are fatiguing haven't listened to them. They are some of the best sounding amps I have ever heard and I have heard and owned almost everything from OTL tube amps, Audio Research tube and solid state, Conrad Johnson, VTL, BAT, Levinson, McIntosh and many more I can't begin to list. And in addition they will drive any speaker out there to it's fullest potential.
I went down the same route I think levinson is warmer and smoother than krell but krell is straight forward, super fast and very revealing and very much so with watt puppys. I ended up with linn klimax solos they split the difference so well speed of krell and detail and warmth of levinson. You cant go wrong with either of your choices it depends on your stlye of music, your associated equipment and what (sound) you are looking for. good luck
Seems like the consepts of amplifier design is into a phase
where it is developing rapidly.Perhapes both the current
models from Krell and Levinson will be overtrawn by some
cleverly designed digital amps. An exampel: the German
magazin Stereoplay reviewed( in their current issue)a pair of monoblocks called Audio Physic Strada, and they ranked
it above their former reference, which was Krell FPB 650 M.
I´m sceptical to ranking systems, but the Krell amp got
59 points and the Stradas 60 points.
The Strada monoblocks seems to use some innovative curcuits,
and are not based on the "usual" Tripath moduls.
They deliver 270 W into 8 ohms and will cost about 15000 Euro/pair.
Krell or Levinson? Well, I will take my time and explore
the alternatives.
Seems to me, that we are a long way still from the perfect
amp.Heard the Wilson Watt Puppy 6´s driven by Pass X 350´s
in someone´s home, and then shortly afterwards some live music,of different sorts. There is a difference, you know.
I have the Krell 650M's matched with my Wilson Audio X-1's and I love it. I've audition the ML 33 vs the Krell 650M. The krell is very revealing and detail, excellent Mid and Thunderous Low something (in my opinion) the ML33's don't do as well as krell. You should audition both with your favorite recording. The opinion vary's depending on what Audio shop you audition at. It's very rare that you would be able to audition them both in the same shop. My suggestion is if possible get an in-home audition.