Krell 400xi vs NAD M3 vs Music Fidelity A5 vs Naim

At a recent audio get-together, we heard the Krell 400xi, the Marantz PM11-S1 (had only about 5 hours o it) and a YBA integrated, sorry, don't remember the model. The Marantz and YBA are quite a bit more expensive than the Krell.
The Krell sounded downright strange. Very mechanical and shouty, like you were putting your hands up along side your mouth and speaking. The bass seemed to be doing good things, but not noticably better than the other two.
There was unanimous agreement about this among the dozen or so people I spoke to. Very easy to hear.
YBA was very smooth, Marantz had more life in the treble but again was far from broken in.

Mfsoa,

What you didn't mention was who's unit you listened too, what associated equipment was used and the media you listened too. Perhaps the integrated was broken?

I think Mfsoa makes a good point for the other side of the equation. The Krell does sound different. I think one man's shouty is another man's well-defined. First time I listened to Krell, I thought it was too forward. Later, after listening a couple more times I started to notice how dependent the sound from the Krell was on the source and recording. I was eventually won over and bought one.

It didn't hurt my opinion of the Krell when I saw a salesman drop on its corner a 400Xi from belly high onto a solid concrete floor. He looked extremely pained - even somehow cut his hand when it slid out and his boss walked in. He picked it up. You could barely see a mark on the corner where it hit and it literally chipped the concrete. They hooked it up, turned it on, and much to all of our amazement it worked like a champ. You would have had to see it to believe it. The build quality is incredible. Of course that doesn't make the sound.

I have Marantz and I'm familiar with the YBA. I think Marantz makes very good sounding equipment. I'm always on the lookout for a PM. They don't show up much.

The YBA - I can't think of any other way to describe it - has *sweet* sound. It's much like a sweet piece of candy, great at first but then cloying. It's all sweetness but somewhat lacking substance IMO.

After I bought the 400xi I kind of thought something wasn't right about the bass. I a-b'ed it against my top of the line NAD separates and the bass was just as good as the NAD but the mids and highs were so different that in contrast it had made the bass sound different. After that I started doing some critcal listening to the Krell.

I was struck by two things. First I heard things in very familiar music I had never heard before. Good things. Secondly I noticed clear separation of instruments that was far ahead of the NAD and even the Marantz. I eventually figured out the Krell took whatever I gave it and laid it out in spades. In other words revealing. Bad disks sounded worse and great ones sounded, well, great - better than they ever had before. Especially acoustic and classical.

I concluded the NAD was very forgiving but at the expense of definition and clarity. You could throw on about anything and sound was decent.

The Marantz was gentle but lacking soul. It not bad though. I would put the sound near Levinson and not far from Ayre. Some of the reference stuff I think might be very good.

I would compare Mfsoa's listening test to the Pepsi Challenge back in the 80s. If you recall "The Pepsi Challenge" alarmed Coke executives to the point that they thought they had to reformulate Classic coke to new coke. Pepsi was legitamately winning the taste tests. Coke executives thought they need something sweeter. What they didn't consider and what resulted in the New Coke debacle was the sweeter Pepsi was winning a *sip* test. A single sip of something sweet will always win that kind of Challenge. What Coke executives didn't consider was people buy a Coke to drink 12~16 ounces. That much of a sweeter soft drink wasn't good. People didn't want that much of a sweet drink. It just made 'em feel yucky. Whence the New Coke disaster.

Krell I think is an acquired taste. That's why you have all these Krell diehards. They know what they like. Of course you have others who can't understand how anyone like Krell with its "shouty" sound. No doubt it sounds different from other equipment out there.

All the amps listed have a different sound. And all have their followers. Probably the best thing to do if you can't audition them is buy one used based on what you think you might like and then resale later. Or buy several integrateds and resale what you don't like. If you're married, you have to think about placating the wife. Wives don't understand why we need so many pieces of equipment. :)

regards, David

It didn't hurt my opinion of the Krell when I saw a salesman drop on its corner a 400Xi from belly high onto a solid concrete floor. He looked extremely pained - even somehow cut his hand when it slid out and his boss walked in. He picked it up. You could barely see a mark on the corner where it hit and it literally chipped the concrete. They hooked it up, turned it on, and much to all of our amazement it worked like a champ. You would have had to see it to believe it. The build quality is incredible. Of course that doesn't make the sound.

Now that is not built like a brick but more like built like concrete! I wouldn't do that on purpose though. Last time I heard about an amp that wouldn't break even dropping it three floors up was the Bryston 4B-ST.

I do agree with the posts above in that Krell is an acquired taste. I have owned the Krell KAV-300i for a short period and listened to KAV-400xi. To me, the former has an unrefined and harsh sound but punchy and dynamic. Not a good match with neutral or upfront speakers but great with laidback ones such as Sonus Fabers. The KAV-400xi is a much refined unit and does not sound as raw with better control across the spectrum.

I have also listened to the YBA Integre and concur with MFsoa and Wireless in that it is one sweet and musical amp. Matched with my B&W's, the sound was so sweet and musical that at one point I was considering this integrated although my system was more or less settled. Maybe one day when I decide to set up a 2nd system I'll look into getting the YBA.

Getting back to the topic, not being familiar with your speakers, the Krell and Bryston is worth looking at with the former having the advantage in being more powerful. The Naim is also quite good but would have problems driving speakers with difficult loads. I would also agree with several suggestions on Plinius integrateds. Difficult to describe the sound so it would be best if you could listen to one.

If you going for an integrated, listen to supernait before any commitment. What ever your choice afterward, doesn't matter.