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Should I Upgrade My Krells

Here are the details. I have a Krell 150A Amplifier, Krell 250P Pre-Amplifier, Cary 303/200 CD Player, Vienna Acoustic Bachs, AudioQuest Viper XLRs throughout. Some Very Thick Monster Cable speaker wire (M100 series I think). I bought the Krells off of E-Bay in ABSOLUTE pristine condition 1 1/2 years ago. I will say that my Bachs are HERE TO STAY as I'm a silk dome tweeter fan as well as a Vienna fan! IMHO, nothing sounds better than Vienna. . . again MY personal opinion. Also, the Cary is quite phenominal!!!

When I purchased the Krells on E-Bay, I paid $2,150.00. When new, both units went for $4,800.00.

It has been said that sometimes Krell can be a bit too agressive and that may be true (I don't know with authority). If this is in fact the case, I believe that since the Bachs and Cary are very much laid back, this offsets the brashness of the Krells. I think the Krells do well in producing bass on my Bachs especially since they have no bass driver, but rather are ported on the back. IMHO, I feel as thought the midrage is positively intoxication and the high end can be likened to mercury. If I had one complaint, it would be imaging. I wished that my system was able to do this more effectively!!!

I went to audition the Mozarts side by side to the Bachs at my local Tweeter store. To my amazement, I truly believe the Bachs sounded better! Further, the set up I heard at the store which included B&K electronics and a no name cd player sounded better than my home system???? In short, I experienced far better imaging than my home system???? Can B&K be on the same level as Krell in this aspect?? I know my Cary is not in question as it's about as good as it gets at the price point I paid.

This all being said, should I replace the Krells? I don't want to sacrifice what I already have in Bass, Midrange, and Treble. I want to improve the imaging as I know that can be done and have heard it demonstrated!!

Any advice would be welcomed!

Itch
itch
plato
1,543 posts
 
Three things mainly affect imaging: room acoustics, location and position of speakers in the room, and maintaining correct polarity between the respective left and right channels. On the last point, I have seen speaker pairs where one speaker is wired incorrectly and the polarity is reversed. As you might imagine, that scenario totally destroys imaging and needs to be corrected by reversing the positive and negative speaker wires (or rewiring one speaker correctly). If I were you, I'd get a hold of a test CD that has channel phasing tests and put the system through its paces. You could also check to see that you have not inadvertantly reversed the polarity of one channel somewhere in your playback chain (most likely at the speaker or amp).

If you find that everything is functioning as intended then it would be time to experiment with speaker placement and fine tuning their position in the room. Look at what furniture (if any) you have between your speakers; and the symmetry and similarity of the acoustic environment between the respective left and right speakers.

If your CD player has tubes, maybe it's time to install new tubes. Possibly, a decent equipment rack might help, as well.

I wouldn't start swapping equipment until you figure out exactly why your system doesn't image properly. Even cheap gear can image well and your gear is not what I'd call cheap...
hifimaniac
507 posts
 
I ditto Nrchy's comments on Krell equipment as I too have owned it for years and have had many different models. An FPB Krell amp is a major improvement over what you are using now and sonically will be a big improvement. However, I also agree your cable is weak...I have found Transparent work very well with Krell and Wilson, so I have gone the Reference XL route. Having said that, there are other great cables to audition and I would try the better names in the price ranges you can afford. B&K builds a good entry level, high end amp, but personally, it isn't on par with a Krell, Levinson, etc. Have fun in your pursuit of sonic nirvana.
audio999
178 posts
 
Nrchy,congratulation if your Krell's sound good for your ears and you have not found them to be harsh.

I bought used FPB300C last year on Audiogon and sold on Ebay 6 weeks later. It was harsh and too forward to my EARS.

Harsh for my could be nirvana for someone.

John said Krell too harsh to his ears period. So what the real story ??
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
I doubt that harsh could be anyone's nirvana. What does harsh mean? I left room in my thread for any number of opinions. There is no piece of equipment that would be the best for everyone.
The problem could be your room, your ears, or any number of things. Are we to assume that since you don't like it the rest of us should throw our equipment away?!?
The real story probably has more to do with the sound you are accustomed to than how bad the Krell sounds. With the technological advances made in this age it's just foolish to think that any company would want to build an amp that sounds harsh. I don't know for a fact, but I would guess they have enough money to develop a good sounding amp. Why would they knowingly put out an inferior (read: harsh) amplifier.
audio999
178 posts
 
You said, "These are words which are typically applied by people who have never owned Krell" mean that you don't think John has never heard or owned Krell.

Are people who said that have never owned Krell ??

I never said or against Krell or Krell's owner or even said that you should throw our equipments away since i don't like them in my statement.

BTW : Happy New Year for all of you !!
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