Krell KAV-400xi vs. Parasound A21+P3

I've heard both setups: I used to own the parasound stack with some mission speakers, and I auditioned the krell with proacs next to the plinius 9200 the art sam2, and pathos logos. The lrell was actually quite impressive, and was def punchy in the bass, but the proacs are punchy speakers. I actually went into the listening session with anti-krell prejudice but came out liking it nearly as much as the pathos. The parasound is nice gear too, but I preferred the krell, much to my own surprise. FWIW

May I ask you : Why would you connect superior equipment like Krell to NHT Three speakers? NHT Three model has been regularly retailed at 400.00 new (799 MSRP) and I am not sure they worth even that little, now connecting them to $5000 worth of electronics will accomplish what exactly?

From my expirience, and I own 400xi among other gear (Primare stack, ARC Reference stack), the bass is def one of the Krell's strong points. It actually outperforms my $20k ARC pre/pwr combo in that department !

I def would try it with different speakers first.

To Dkzzzz

NHT Three is about $650 pair new. I just like the sound of NHT and even plan to buy the 2.9s or 3.3s in the future.

About Krell, I need an amp with at least 200wpc in order to drive my NHTs. Besides NAD, either good preamp+amp combo or integrated amp would cost about $1,400 used. I bought Krell SACD because the seller who sold KAV 400Xi to me was a very kind person, and the price was reasonable. I think only SACD made the setup superior. I'm actually not stick to any brand. If Rotel, Classe or other is fit in my $1,400 budget and works best with my speakers, I will buy it.

Please give me some more comments on what is the best combo for $1,500.

Thank you.

I would have to agree that the bass problem probably isn't the krells fault--that's one of it's strong points. I would say see if you can swap in a different pair of speakers and see how the krell sounds. Poor bass could also be a room issue: how are your speakers placed int the room and what's near them?