Perhaps you are referring to the Absolute Sound review? Some incorrect information in that review but overall positive. Also, does anybody know who Herb Reichert is? I read some of his reviews for Stereophile and couldn't help but choke on his absurdities and bias!
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As always listen for yourself ; criticism without knowledge is pointless. I've been caught in high end audio madness for decades and I can tell you that Krell's current amps sound very 'high end'. It still kills me hearing how great it used to be but is no more. I remember tons of criticism of the older amps claiming they were bleached and analytical sounding in particular the high frequencies. Those criticisms of course also came from people with bias issues either one way or another. I've had several older units and truly can't say that they were any more musical than the current amps. I like them both. |
I have been a Krell fan and owner for 20 years, they make great sounding gear. That said, Fpb was slightly withdrawn in the treble with an emphasis on the deepest bass, overshadowing the middle bass. The treble got better in Fpb c and cx but the mid bass articulation/speed did not improve until the Evolution series, a lot of the current gear is Evo in new casing. Krell' bigest problem has always been heat, they run very hot ! My big Fpb700 Cx has had all capacitors changed and had 2 burned out transistors. My Kps 25sc has had all capacitors changed, 2 burned out laser heads and 3 out of 4 BurBrown pcm1704 k dac chips killed by heat ! My brother has the same machine and his older 20bit dac board is impossible to repair, his capacitors have also been replaced. The lasers where hard to get for a while until The Chinese started making copies, the dac chipsets are almost all gone. I wish my Kps 25sc had electric fans like the new Krell gear, the inclusion of fans in the new gear will make buyers and service department at Krell much happier! |
The Stereophile review I quoted from was from later 2015 by Michael Fremer > http://www.stereophile.com/content/krell-solo-575-monoblock-power-amplifier-page-2 The reviews of Krell ibias amps mostly agree if you google them online. To most directly answer this forum topic, "Whatever happened to Krell", looking at Kell’s business & R&D history gives a pretty definitive answer. The first thing they did (after firing Dan D’agostino, removing all trace of him from their website while championing their history of quality he was responsible for) was scrapping their most prestigious & advanced line (the evolution series) in it’s entirety. The decontenting was then aggressively pursued everywhere else with no replacements even contemplated. All the speaker lines were consolidated into one model only designed by Dan & eventually that one was scrapped as well. All well reviewed digital sources then went, replaced by a DAC less then 1/2 the cost & indisputably a fraction of the quality. The ibias is the only new R&D invested in since Dan left & that has never received more then luke warm praise. It helps the amps draw less electricity which appeals to the overtly penny pinching (who are the customers they’re now aiming for & not quite the customer that made them successful). Tons of good for what it is comments but a certain kind of sound not for everyone kind of remarks. Their one well reviewed integrated, the S550 they discontinued & replaced with something less ambitious & respected - but cheaper. Unsurprisingly they’re a smaller co. with fewer dealers as a result of this kind of relentless cost cutting - so they had a brainstorm to salvage their reputation. Bring back Dan’s first wife who still has a D’Agosatino last name (& is technically a co-founder) & make her the titular, figurehead, last year. A marketing triumph. They’re mostly a home theater company now with a sprinkling of midfi components everywhere else. Their amps are goodish but as for the rest........ Basically a textbook recitation of what happens when an uncaring, private equity firm buys a prestige firm & cuts all costs relentlessly, invests as close to nothing as humanly possible, while draining the firm of all possible cash. A greater purity of cynicism displayed is hard to imagine. |
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