Vintage Krell

I have a Krell KSA-300s. I got it from an estate sale along with a pair of Apogee Scintilla speakers for a price I could not pass up. The amp dates from 1994. A son-in-law of the deceased owner told me he never saw it turned on. So that means it could have sat for 20 years or so. Upon first power up the relays chattered. I removed the cover then decided to send it to Krell for service. Their service charge is $125/hr. It got a full re-cap and new relays and a little more. Including shipping double boxed inside a wooden crate cost me right at $2300. That was more than I paid for the amp/speakers combined. I must say it has been flawless since. I have the Krell KRC-HR preamp / KPC phono preamp / KSA-300s amp / Apogee Scintilla's setup in my performance/recording studio that has great acoustic isolation. No matter what genre of music I listen to, it still is a pleasure to hear everything properly.

I owned a pair of MDA-300 monoblocks in the late 80's, early 90's. They generated a lot of heat, but I loved the sound. My wife convinced me to sell them because of the heat and high power bills. Selling these (and my Cello Audio Palette) are my biggest regrets in my audiophile journey. 

I bought an FPB-300 in the late 90's and owned it until one channel started distorting last year. Given it's age, I decided to sell it as-is instead of getting it repaired. This was another great sounding amp, although I think I liked the MDA-300 better (different system, different room, so direct comparisons aren't possible). 

The obvious issue with these older amps is that they will need service at some point (more likely sooner than later) and some of the parts are no longer available so re-engineering can get expensive. 

I really liked the KMA 160’s & 400’s!

I had KRELL KSA 50MK2 great sounding amp even by todays standards.

I had KMA 100's, same vintage and design as the KSA 200's. They were fabulous sounding amps. After twenty carefree years one of the output stages let go. It is what happens to full bore Class A amps. Semiconductors may be more tolerant of heat now but they were not back then. Just like an incandescent bulb you can only turn them on and off so many times. So my advise is stay away. Even having it rebuilt will not guarantee either longevity or sound quality.