Krell Amps vs others

You might also consider the sunfire amps, not exactly class A but what the hell. I have heard nothing but good things about Pass, but I have heard some krell KSA's and they are amazing. Also though not class A, what about the big Bryston amps 7Bsst? A great amp and more affordable also reliable! Since you are asking about class A amps have you experinced the Heat generated by true class A devices? It is something to consider. On the nelson pass website he claims something like for a true class A device you should expect an amp to weigh something like 2 pound for every watt of power that is very heavy and I know of two people granted they are in thier 50's that have damaged thier backs moving large amps(no joke!). Good luck!

Jeff

I run a krell Ksa250 0n my large power hungry speakers. jffyg is right on the money regarding weight and heat of class a high power amps. My amp is 150 lbs. and runs very warm to the touch. My book states that it can put out 2000 watts into 1 ohm load. I think that ware all these big super power amps really shine on large power hungry speakers is at low volume listening. They sound just as good at two or three watts as they do at hundreds of watts.

try krell krs100or krs200 ,or lamm m1.1, they are pure
class A all the way and sound awsome.

I've owned Dynaudio Contour 3.3 speakers for about three years now and have used both the Plinius SA 250 MK.IV and now use Pass Labs X600 reference monoblocks. Both amps had no problem delivering enough power to make the Dyn's sing. However, they are very different sounding amps. The Plinius being warmer (does not sound as "solid state" as most SS amps) and having a more natural sound. The Pass being very revealing of the source as it retrieves every bit øf detail, which is not kind to poorly recorded music. If possible, try to demo the amp in your home before making the purchase. Your preference in the type of sound you enjoy, can only be determined by you! Some audiophiles hate Krells, some Krell owners hate Plinius, some Plinius owners hate Pass Labs, and we all hate Bose.

"Music is in the ear of the beholder!"

Good one Rosstaman, and I've heard the same story all turned around. The fellow I bought my X-600 to power the Apogee Scintilla from also was selling his Rowlands 9tc. He preferred the Pass amps over the Rowlands. I'm using the 600 to power the only 1 ohm speaker there is. There just isn't any more power hungry speaker around than the Scintilla. When this speaker was made, no amp could make it go loud. My Scintillas go real loud, and just like you said, the Pass shows every tiny faintest detail in your recording AND your audio chain. I don't miss the warm (natural?) sound of the Plinius, as I am employing a CDP with a tube output. I control sound nuances with tube rolling. That way I get to keep all the big dynamics and transparency of the Pass.