First foray into Class A amp -- recommendations

I am a fan of Class A amps, preferably tube, but solid state as well. What speakers are you driving? Do you really need 200 wpc?

I would suspect that the Krell would offer a significant upgrade in bass slam and control, and a mild upgrade in the midrange, the natural upper frequencies may not be so much of an upgrade though, as that is where Steve McCormack's amps fair so well. If you go with the Krell, or any other older Class A amp, look into whether it has already been re-capped or not.

Krell is a big name, and an undisputed bass champ, but I prefer Class A designs from other designers better, namely Nelson Pass, either of Pass Labs or Threshold. Clayton Audio, CODA, and Plinius make some very good Class A amps too.

I just switched from Class A Claytons to a fully tricked out Class A/B McCormack DNA-2 LAE with SMc Audio's best current upgrade package including some of Jupiter's new copper foil caps and other neat upgrades.
On SQ alone, the move was mostly lateral with the win going to the SMc amp, which is more open sounding with better dimensionality and excellent tonality. Ergonomically, I like the SMc amp better since it can remain powered up all the time (standby circuit), doesn't generate the high heat, and is very quiet. IMO this amp is more musical than the DNA 500, which I also owned.
At your price range, I would look at the Clayton S100 or M100s and listen to whatever you plan to buy before spending any money.

08-28-14: Viridian
I like the classic class A amps, Bedini 10/10 and 25/25, Classe DRA25, Levinson ML2, Rappaport Amp 1, etc.

Threshold SA-1's. ;)