Levinson 333.5 vs. Krell FPB 200, 250, or 300 amp?

A friend of mine used to have 3.6's and now he has 7.0's. He bought a 331.5 it was by far the best amp he tried with the 3.6's. Then he bought a FPB-200 and loved it. He sold the 331.5 and purchased a 334. He had a really hard time deciding between the 2 amps (lucky bastard if only I could afford to have both...lol). He ended up selling the Krell and still has the 334. Overall he thought it was more true to the source. To be honest I don't think you could go wrong with either. From what I have heard in his system the Krell seemed to have a touch more air or 3D sound and was very smooth. It had great midbass punch where the 334 had better lower bass drive. The Levinson just did everything well. You can't go wrong with either one because I borrowed both of them and could live with either. The only negative I have heard on ML is the cap issues. The Krell 300's may be a nice step up but I have never heard one. Do some research here and audioreview.com. That might help.

I lived with a #333 and a pair of Thiel 3.6 for 8 years. Needless to say, I enjoy that combo a lot. I agree with the assessment above. My amp was a dealer demo. Within those 8 years, I had to send it in for capacitor repair twice. According to the repair log, the dealer had sent it in for the same repair once. The last time, I had to pay for it out of pocket.

I had to admit that this last cap change made the combination sound much better. But it cost like $1500. I wasn't ready to pump in that kind of money every 4 or 5 years. So I traded it in for a brand new Pass X350.5.

I was convinced that I would not be able to get much more out of the Thiel 3.6 if I change the amp. It would just be a lateral change. But I was truly amazed when I heard the Pass/Thiel combo.

I had been contemplating about upgrading my speakers for a few years. But after hearing the combo, I was seriously reconsidering that decision. There were just more of everything. I thought there was good bass performance with #333, but Pass took it to another level. The sound is more livier, lots of air, warmer midrange. And the soundstage was much wider and deeper, and more body.

FYI, I ended up selling the Thiel 3.6 and got a pair of Verity Parsifal Encores. The guy got to hear them with my Pass amp, and I spoke to him after he got to hear them at home. He was using them in his garage with some older amp like a Parasound or McCormick or something. But he told me that he really liked the way they sounded with the Pass.

FrankC

Hi Frank and Sam;

It seems that the 333.5 is rare. The .5 upgrade makes a huge difference. The 331 seems to be a bit diminished as compared to the 333. The Krell models are most likely a very good alternative and Nelson Pass has earned a greal deal of respect. My friend is looking to match a Krell KRC-3 linestage to an amp.