Krell KAV-250p - time for change?


My preamp is a Krell KAV-250p, bought primarily for 2-channel listening but also because it has home theater bypass (HTB) when I switch to my Marantz receiver for movie watching. Other equipment: B&W 801s circa 1980, Oppo Blu-Ray, Bryston 9B-SST five channel. I just inherited the 801s from my recently departed father, replacing a set of PSB Synchrony 1s (which I also love).

Anyway, I am not fond of the Krell for the babyish reason that I don't like the volume control. I wish it had a knob as it is too difficult to dial-in the volume I want with the graduated segments. I also wonder, since it is my first preamp, if I might upgrade. The Parasound Halo P6 caught my eye as it has the HTB and decent feedback from owners/reviewers.

I searched this forum and no one had anything bad to say about the Krell. I just thought I would inquire since it's always been my least favorite piece.

olfac87

You knowledgeable folk continue to confirm the Krell is a good unit sonically. Hard to replace it just because I don’t like the volume UI. 

I would love to own some big Magico speakers, but at $150k + a pair, just not happening for me.

@olfac87

Keep the Krell as long as you love the way it sounds! And don’t pay any attention to what ebm says, his contributions to Audiogon community can be summed up between ‘jump’ and ‘dump’ ….he reminds me of my garbage man who jump on and on off his garbage truck to dump garbage 😂