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  3. 161642-153344

Is it my amp or my speakers?

I've been dissatisfied with my system of late--wanting a little more brightness and color--and can't decide if it's the amp or the speakers, or both. Here's the set-up:
  • Krell KAV-300i integrated
  • Cyrus CD-T
  • Schiit Gungnir DAC
  • Tekton Lore speakers
The Krell was a hand-me-down (!); everything else was purchased new. The amp had some overpriced work done to it a few years back and I'm wondering if the workmanship is starting to show, or possibly its age (~25 years, I'm guessing). Or, are the amp and speakers mismatched?I can afford to invest about $3K in the system, but am unsure where best to put it.Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated.
danto
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 


Looking at the way he balances his speakers I would suspect them. This model has a rising bottom end and a falling top end, both together will make it sound tilted in the favour of a darker sound.
https://www.stereophile.com/images/718TekIMfig3.jpg

Nevertheless, throughout the measuring, the Tekton’s low frequencies sounded rather exaggerated. The tweeter array becomes gradually more directional as the frequency increases, but in a well-controlled manner up to 15kHz, above which the speaker’s output drops very rapidly to the sides of the central tweeter axis.
Here’s another frequency graph done on another model, as you can see again, falling HF this time starting at 1.5khz!!
https://i.imgur.com/CvgtJLsh.jpg

Cheers George
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
THE SPEAKERS! Nothing wrong with the Krell amp - don't sell it!
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
Sell those Tektons and get something like Dynaudio's or Proac's with a more extended and accurate top end!
ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,150 posts
 
Nothing wrong with the Krell amp

Nothing, except it sounds like a Krell. Other than that, thumbs up!
johnto
1,025 posts
 
If you could borrow an amp or speakers that would let you know.
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