Krell S 1000 vs. Krell S 1200 ???

Krell S 1200 Surround Processor - Opinions please???

I am lurking around for a new processor. I am on the waiting list for the new (very cheap) emotiva UMC-1 processor that was supposed to be out a year ago already, but I am sort of losing faith in this product and am quite frankly sick of waiting and waiting...

Did some searching today and ran across a few good deals on the Krell S1000 processor. It seems to do all of the current codecs for HT use, has HDMI, but it lacks HDMI 1.3. I think that this one is pretty much the main difference to the newer S1200. I have never heard Krell processors with ML speakers - do they have a certain musical characteristic on the sound? Currently using my old Theta Casa Nova (that I am getting ready to sell).

My question is: how important is HDMI 1.3? I am using a Blu ray Sony HDP 500, and Sony 1080p (VW50) projector, with Sunfire amps, SL3's, Theater i, 2 fathoms, etc... treated room

I do watch a lot of movies (3-4 a week) and listen to lots of music.

What do you guys think? The Emotiva is only going to be $699, the Krell used is 5 times that at least...

any opinions from my fellow audiophiles ?

thanks gordon

update: I found out the S 1200 does the high rez codecs like Dolby True HD and DTS Master audio and the 1000 does not. Also the 1000 does not have a video transcoder, but teh S1200 does.
I do not want to buy an obsolete unit, as I am currently already using one of those (Theta Casa Nova, which was "supposed to be" 100% future proof - yeah, right!)

Anyone using the S1200 with their ML gear?

wow, nobody knows anthing about these units on here?

Thought you answered your own question...

I came close to buying a Krell S1000 until I learned that Krell has been promising an upgrade for the HDMI circuitry for about two years now. They eventually came out with the S1200 and now offer an trade-in plan to go from the S1000 to the S1200. Check the Krell site for details.

The Krell stuff is nice but too far over the top on price for me. It's quite a leap to go from the $695 Emotiva to the $12,000 Krell. I'd look somewhere in the middle of those extremes. JonFo uses a very nice Denon PrePro at about a third the cost of the Krell.

Another option if you have 5.1 analog inputs on your current PrePro is to get the $500 Oppo Blue Ray Universal player and let that do the high-rez audio decoding instead of the PrePro. Or buy an Oppo BD Player and a used Krell or Classe 7.1 HT Processor for less than $3,000. That's what I would consider.

You definitely want something with HDMI 1.3 and TrueHD support. There are a few units in the $9k-12k range, but that's pretty expensive relative to the gear in your system, and as you know it's not futureproof. The unit JonFo is using that Craig referred to is still $7k. It looks like there are two cheaper options.

First is the Marantz AV8003 that supposedly has very good sound quality. It's on the market for $1800-2600.

Second is the Rotel RSP-1570 which runs about $2200 (and which also has a matching 5x250w amplifier, the RSP-1575). I don't know how these two units compare side by side, but personally I'm leaning towards the Rotel because it's a smaller and nicer looking unit. I went to the store to hear these Rotel products this morning and they seemed very capable, and I'm taking them home for an in-home trial a week from today. My hope is that the sound better than my Denon 3808ci and Sunfire TGA5200. If you want, I can let you know my impressions after I've tried out the Rotel equipment.

gordonmenninger said:

: I am on the waiting list for the new (very cheap) emotiva UMC-1 processor that was supposed to be out a year ago already, but I am sort of losing faith in this product and am quite frankly sick of waiting and waiting...

Click to expand...

It's already been that long?

I think i'll pass on this waiting line.

I would love to own Krell, Simaudio or Classé Processor. Personnaly, I don't even feel that I "must" have hdmi. There's HDmi on my tv. Great for video. But for audio?

daniel said:

...I would love to own Krell, Simaudio or Classé Processor. Personnaly, I don't even feel that I "must" have hdmi. There's HDmi on my tv. Great for video. But for audio?

Click to expand...

The main advantage of HDMI is to transport the 1.3 audio signal along with the video to a processor but new components can now decode 1.3 at the source as long as your processor has the 5.1 inputs.

Running HDMI video through your processor is great for convenience but not necessary. You can skip the processor altogether and go straight from the cable box, blu-ray, whatever direct to the TV. You'll just need to get a good remote and program it accordingly.

On the other hand. A modern pre-pro will have room correction software such Audessy that is well worth using. That's a disadvantage with using an older pre-pro.

But wait, isn't HDMI 1.4 just around the corner? I don't think it's compatible with 1.3. I wish we could get off this HDMI bandwagon.

I pulled the plug and ordered the Krell S-1200 U in black. See my other post in this sub forum...:music: