Krell KAV400 VS Musical Fidelity A300 A 3.2 A3.5

I've heard the Krell integrated with Cambridge 840c source, decent audioquest cables and with both larger Focal Profile and Martin Logan speaks on several occasions.

Liked it a lot with the Focals. Not so much with the MLs. The sound was too dark and clinical for me, though the transparency imaging and soundstage were excellent with both.

I recall the gain had to be set to high values but it had no trouble driving either speaks to realistic volume.

I liked it enough from what I heard that I would give it serious consideration for my system at its price point, pending further listening.

Popular things often draw a lot of critique,both good and bad, just because they are popular.

Seems like Krell does have a lot of strong competition these days.

Also I was under the impression that all amps produce a lot of heat when operating in class a mode? Nothing surprising there.

I have found the krell to give you a garbage in garbage out effect...darkness is not endemic to the unit either. It IS rather dependant on the ancillaries and cabling. As for the volume control issue, I have always sought out a preamp/gain stage that utilizes 50% to 75% of it's range. This allows for maximum dynamics and transparency while rendering exceptional low level detail.

The music had a nice and I recall very distinctive energy to it regarding overall dynamics with the Krell on the Focals and even on the Martin Logans. Not sure I could equate it exactly to anything else I've heard...very unique. IS that the "Krell" Sound?

Would like to a/b it someday with some other amps in order to get a better handle on exactly what it was about it that sounded distinctive. I think it was resolution and good dynamics, but not certain.

Closest other system I've heard recently to compare was perhaps Avalon speakers with Boulder amplification, which also had a very unique and detailed sound to my ears.

Exactly, the Avalon/Boulder combo has a great sense of aliveness and dynamic contrasts not unlike what I've experienced with Krell components and many great speaker systems. I must admit i wish I still had my FPB600...that was glorious:)