Krell KSA 50 vs. todays ss amps?

Not sure if you're talking about the original KSA50 (and 50Mk II, which I owned for a while) or the 50S, which Dave sent the links about. I must say the old KSA 50 was a very nice amp, quite sweet sounding for a solid state design, with far more power, bass control and clarity than any solid state amp I was hearing at the time. If I still owned it today I might recognize that today's designs, at the top end, might have better quality parts available to them now (higher speed diodes, maybe some better power supply regulation, etc.) that might make them objectively better, but I'd probably still be happy with the sound of the Krell. Going purely from my memory, I don't think it has the refinement of the best solid state designs available today, but it is a well-engineered design that has a lot of strong points. John Atkinson a few years back did a comparison of a Krell KSA 50 Mk II (he always seemed to like that amp) against a new Krell design, likely one of the FPB series, in Stereophile; his comments at the time were interesting, and did not find the KSA hopelessly outdated, if I recall correctly. Worth tracking down, if you can find it.

Perhaps, the sweetest sounding amplifier in Krell line up at that time along with the KSA 80. To be candid here, I haven't listened to any of their current series of amplifiers although at that particular time, the more powerful krells couldn't match the musical integrity, nuance and articulation of their lower powered siblings. That said: I would still choose the little 25 watt/ch class-A Bedini over the baby Krell for exactly same reason.

Dave, thanks for the links, but that's a 50S and NOT the amp I was referring to. The little KSA50 is an older model, but is supposed to be one of the best amps ever made.
I still am wandering how it compares to the amps I mentioned above... anyone?

Daveyf,
I used to own a KSA50. It was NOT "all that", as my daughters like to say. Shrill on the high end, etched, but ballsy bass for something of it's power rating. When I bought it used(~1992) everybody else was drooling over the KSA250, and to a lesser degree the KSA150. Years later, I still recall many Krell nuts searching for & bidding up prices of 4-5 yr old KSA250's to almost the level of their brand new, newer models, FPBxxx. Rumor had it that many were being purchased by Japanese Krell fans, who were willing to spend crazy sums at the time. If you get a chance to hear a KSA250 or KSA150, I'd check it out in lieu of the 50. The KSA80 was a comparable model, I belive, but with slightly more power. Cheers,
Spencer

I traded in my KSA 50 for an 80; the 80 indeed did have more power, was more refined (once it warmed up) though not quite as sweet in the highs, had better bass quality and control, and generally was a better amp. Big problem with the KSA 50 was that it used a cooling fan, which could eventually wear out, vs. the 80's massive heat sinks. Both of these amps could heat a good sized room, as they ran in Class A all the time. Neither of these amps can give you the midrange of a great tube amp, but both of them excel at delivering power into demanding loads, which is what their design goal at the time was (no coincidence that Krell was often demoing with Apogee speakers).