Hey Zd...I'll give you a quick history to let you know where I'm coming from. I had a Krell 525a, 222, and 402e. Right after I purchased the 525a...despite Krell's words to the contrary, they released the Cipher. After an audition I sold the 525a for the Cipher. Dealer never told me he had already been through 4 troubled units. On MY 3rd troubled unit, instead of trying to find a fix, Krell issued me a refund...remember that I had already sold my 525a at a great loss. I was out a CD player...researched, along came Simaudio 750d. It outperformed the Cipher by simply putting the performers in my room in far more realistic manner than the Cipher could do, however, it didn't make the Cipher sound bad by any stretch! Curious as to what else Simaudio could do for me, I purchased a 740p preamp. This was the game changer...I was floored by what the combo did for my system!! The equipment is so quiet that it opened up the whole soundstage to a degree I've never experienced, and yes...it made the Krell combo sound bad!! Putting the 222 back in the system literally made you think it was broken, it wasn't!! So now I ponder...what (if anything) can their amp do for me? They are very known for the synergy between their preamps and their amps. As far as speakers are concerned...with the Krell I used B&W802d's, Revel Ultima Studio 2's, and Martin Logan Summit X's. With the Simaudio pieces in the system I have used Summit X's, Focal Electra 1038Be's, but primarily Focal Diablo Utopias! A couple of years ago I read that in the Far East they used to clamor for Krell and Levinson but nowadays it's all Simaudio...I now know why. I first used Krell in 96, switched to Levinson for almost 8 years, then returned to Krell. As upset as I was with Krell, I am almost thankful they stuck it to me, as it lead me to a much higher level of listening!
