New Krell s300i vs. the older 400/300

Excuse me 300Li/i not xi........

I have a S300i which replaced my 400xi. As the unit has broken in it's capabilities have become clear. It is definately superior to the 400xi and the older 300i. The S300i is more open, focused and holographic. Dynamic gradations are more pronounced with a wonderfully vibrant and fleshed out midband. Bass is as killer as ever. Neutrality is the rule here vs the 400xi's warmer take on things (the 300i was quite fat and overly ripe). The S300i uses an evolution based class A preamp stage combined with a higher current/wider bandwidth designed output stage. The new toroidal is encased for greater isolation..a nice touch. The remote is massive and fully functional. The bottom line is that if you have heard the new evolution gear and wished you could afford that sound, you will get a very large serving of that sound with the S300i. In fact, in a system with 89db or higher efficiency speakers, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. All you need is a great CDP and some equally great cables and you have will have a state of the art system:)

Check out the new review in HiFi News by Ken Kessler:)

Thanks Dave! Was looking for some ink.

I bought Dave_b's 400xi and I also have listened to the
S300I at a local dealer. While I agree the S300I is more
articulate it is also a bit colder sounding. Bass on
the S300I is tighter too but I prefer the 400xi's slightly
looser bass as I think it allows the speakers to "let go"
a bit more.

The S300I has much better aesthetics and a far nicer
remote as well but for now I prefer the warmer sound of
the 400xi. In fact this is the warmest Integrated Amp
I have owned. Much warmer than the Classe' Audio separates
that I used to own. I can definitely see how people
would prefer the S300I over the 400xi. It's more refined
from top to bottom. It really depends on your preferences.

For me and my tastes, I prefer the 400xi.