Vintage Krell

Thanks John. Your experience is what I wanted to hear about. Nostalgia is getting to me. Have owned so many great pieces over 40+ years. It’s actually shameful. I know I could have stopped many years ago and had a great system that would be richly rewarding and a bank full of dollars! 

I owned Krell KMA 100s. They were wonderful amps. They "fried" at about 20 years of age. The semiconductors they used back then were not as temp resistant so they used a fan driven chimney set up. Fan drew air from the bottom of the amp and exhausted it on top. They warned you not to put the amps down on carpet. Anyway, Dan D'Agustino who not longer owns Krell really pissed me off on a preamp issue so I sold the amps to a fellow who thought he could fix the one that blew and given Dan's customer support philosophy I swore off his products entirely and warn others to stay away. 
My own philosophy is that a bank full of dollars is no fun. I am sure I will die with very little. My wife will get it all and she deserves every penny for putting up with me for all these years.    

I too fondly remember the KMA 100 mono blocks. Gorgeous sound and my first real entry into the hi end world in the 80s. Had to sell them when I got married, which, upon reflect was the wrong choice.....

Spinaker you made the right choice. You get a lot more money for them before they blow then after. Every last one will blow it's output stage eventually just light an incandescent light bulb. But, they were a great performing amp. They certainly opened my eyes (ears) as to what was possible with ESLs. I discovered that ESLs had no problem going real loud and being real dynamic with the right amp. 

Yeah you’re probably right, they worked great in the 18 months or so I had them though. With a pending marriage and house costs, it was just getting too costly to keep chasing the high end. From the pictures I’ve seen of the insides over the years, they look surprising basic and possibly easy to repair compared to modern complicated units stuffed with surface mount devices. Are/were critical parts hard to source...Krell only? At the prices they go for now, I still find them tempting!