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Why Is Krell Not Considered Hifi?

No one seems to think that Krell sounds hifi, but just hifi price. They say it sounds hifi in that context that it doesn't sound real. I have to admit their products do have a metallic like cast to their tone, but aside from that I think that they are very smooth and detailed, far from the best in detail, like a CJ Premier preamp but they do make decent stuff. And just from looking at their products it makes you believe they sound as they look. Obviously its not true, but Krell makes decent stuff that has a good rep and is easy to resell (as long as its a current model, which is hard cuz they have so many new models) but its no way the sound of a Rotel or NAD that many people say.
tbonephile
brauser
526 posts
 
I have followed Krell for at least a couple of decades and I can say a couple of things with certainty. You really don't know the full capability of your speaker's bass until a big Krell mono gets ahold of it. Krell's designs have never been the last word in finese but big-time into dynamics and control. It seems that there are always trade-offs.
7p62mm
97 posts
 
I own a KSA 200S and it sounds good to me. My only complaint is that the amp does not take well to being shipped. It sounds good but not appreciably better than my Bryston 4BST. This may be due to the fact that my Ohm Walsh 300's while inefficient are not a difficult load to drive. If you live in a hot climate like I do then heat dissipation may be an issue.
sedond
1,387 posts
 
krell *is* considered hi-fi. not *my* cup-o-tea; i don't appreciate mfr's that change their models as often as most folks change their underwear... doug
carl_eber
1,425 posts
 
I consider any functioning Krell power amplifier to be very faithful to music reproduction. Tube amps can be very nice too (I own one, and am buying another). Perhaps you just haven't heard a Krell component set up properly. I wouldn't go by what I heard from one in a dealer's showroom anywhere in the world (or especially an electronics show), which is mostly what is going on here IMO. You can't just use ANY cabling, and think you're going to get satisfactory results, that's for sure. You also can't listen to any system (tube or ss) in any room which is not properly acoustically treated, and then blame one of the components as the cause of "problems" you might be hearing, IMO. If you heard my (admittedly not top-of-the-line) Krell amp in my system/room, you might just want to buy the company...that's how good it is. Come and give it a listen sometime, if you're open minded. I am confident.
no_money
638 posts
 
I have only heard Krell at a local dealer that uses Monster cable so I do not think that really counts as fair listening session, it still did not sound bad. I just can not imagine that equipment that looks to be very of good build quality and design could sound as bad as some people claim. I think some people just don't want to have the mainstream hi-end like Krell or Levinson, they want that oddball stuff you can not find anywhere,(same people bashing Carl on the MIT) and probrably will not be able to get service on in 3 years much less 10.
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