Krell amp

[DanR]

Has anybody here heard or have experience with the newer Krell amps on the Logans? I have Classic 9 speakers and I’m looking at a Krell Duo175XD amp. Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated. I’m interested in a class A amp and the wait for a Pass Labs even an AB amp is 10-14 months and that isn’t solid either. Thanks in advance folks.
Dan

 

[Tosh]

If it ain't Pass it ain't s#!t.

 

[DanR]

Wow what an informative well thought out reply thanks so much Richard

 

[ttocs]

I’m hoping Krell is paired with ML somewhere at AXPONA next week.

At the last AXPONA three years ago Krell amps were paired with Alta Alec speakers and it was one of the best demos at the show. That demo is what made me decide that if I were to downsize, the Alec is what I would get, and Krell, which is Alta’s amp of choice for their speakers.

 

[Robert D]

Wow, its that hard to get ahold of a Pass amp? I thought the supply of parts was getting better. With video cards it finally has. It's crazy how long this is going to continue. Who told you 10 months or longer to get one? Can you get on a wait list?

 

[ttocs]

Robert, I was told just yesterday that some Lutron led light drivers which were supposed to ship last week are now delayed an extra 3 months. They are manufactured in Mexico, so they're not traveling very far, and no ships are involved. So something has changed in a bad way in the last few weeks.

 

[DanR]

Robert D
Yep hard to get is how it is for Pass. The three that I would consider a the X150.8 and X250.8 or the XA30.8
USA Tube Audio 10-14 months is what Pass has told them and that wasn’t guaranteed to them
Acoustic Sounds all 3 are “special order” with no delivery date available
Reno Hifi all 3 of those are out of stock with a waiting list available
Who knows when this crap will end
I’m just looking to step up from the Parasound A21+ that I’m powering the Classic 9 with now so I’m looking at the following amps and looking for anybody that may have some useful input on any of the below
Krell Duo 175 XD New
Parasound JC5 audiogon
Parasound JC1 mono-blocks on audiogon
Anthem STR New

 

[Robert D]

Robert, I was told just yesterday that some Lutron led light drivers which were supposed to ship last week are now delayed an extra 3 months. They are manufactured in Mexico, so they're not traveling very far, and no ships are involved. So something has changed in a bad way in the last few weeks.

Wow, Mexico too. I suspect that the company in Mexico producing the light drivers is getting parts from China or another part of Asia. Following the supply chain is probably very convoluted. Man, and here I was thinking that this madness would end soon.

Video cards are now well available and used to be near impossible to find. The nvidia 3000 series. Maybe that will take a turn for the worse.

I'm scared if something happens to my amp and needs to be repaired. Will they be able to even get replacement parts. Has anyone here had something repaired? How long did that take?

 

[BDH55]

Has anybody here heard or have experience with the newer Krell amps on the Logans? I have Classic 9 speakers and I’m looking at a Krell Duo175XD amp. Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated. I’m interested in a class A amp and the wait for a Pass Labs even an AB amp is 10-14 months and that isn’t solid either. Thanks in advance folks.
Dan

I was also interested in the new Krell amps and had asked for experiences with ML speakers, but didn't find anyone up here running the new Krell's (although, I did find lots of very happy Pass/ML users ). As part of my great amp search... I was talking with Shawn@Davinci several weeks ago to see if he had any experience with the new Krell and ML and at that point, he did not. However, he did say that he was planning to meet with Walter Schofield of Krell and IIRC, I 'think' he was talking about bringing in a pair of their amps to evaluate. I'm not sure if that meeting has happened (it may be planned for AXPONA), or if he has put his hands/ears on a couple of demo units. My suggestion would be for you to give Shawn a call and see if he has made a decision on the new Krell yet.

Also, FWIW, I will be freeing up some Para gear once I fully lock down my new amps. I was running an A31 and A23+ for my surround channels, both of which have been replaced by an Anthem P5 (not yet installed waiting on longer balanced cables, new electric and new gear rack). On my front channels I've been running a pair of JC-1's but likely won't have their replacements for a couple months, or potentially, much longer.

Good luck on your amp search!

 

[as350_b3]

I haven't heard ML paired with Krell's line of new amps, so I'm not much help. However I have been running ML and class A Krell together for several years and I think it is some of the best sound available. All of this is very subjective and biased of course.

 

[DanR]

Update
I’ve found a Krell KSA 100 MK II that has had a complete overhaul including all new capacitors and a complete function testing and I believe I am going to pull the trigger on this amp. It is far less than the new amps in cost and is a pure class A amp. Yep it’s a heavy beast and may put out more btu than my furnace but the company that did the overhaul (George Meyer AV) assures me this unit sounds every bit as good as the day it came out of the factory. I will post further if and when I take possession of this amp.

 

[Robert D]

Update
I’ve found a Krell KSA 100 MK II that has had a complete overhaul including all new capacitors and a complete function testing and I believe I am going to pull the trigger on this amp. It is far less than the new amps in cost and is a pure class A amp. Yep it’s a heavy beast and may put out more btu than my furnace but the company that did the overhaul (George Meyer AV) assures me this unit sounds every bit as good as the day it came out of the factory. I will post further if and when I take possession of this amp.

Is there any kind of warranty on the amp, or is it buy as is?

 

[gadgetguy11]

I haven't heard ML paired with Krell's line of new amps, so I'm not much help. However I have been running ML and class A Krell together for several years and I think it is some of the best sound available. All of this is very subjective and biased of course.

Agree 100%! I am running the old Pure Class A Krell amps & they make the ML's come alive, but have not heard the newer Krell amps with the ML's.

 

[DanR]

It’s as is Robert, but I don’t have a problem with that. In dealing with the seller and talking directly with George Meyer AV I have every confidence this amp is in wonderful condition, they are very popular with Krell owners with older units and have a great reputation on the work they do. We shall see. One of the nice things about using paypal for payment on things like this is the buyer protection at least in the aspect you won’t get burned on something that isn’t right when delivered, now beyond that it will be no different than any other audio equipment I’ve bought used.

 

[Rehan Azim Hashmi]

Update
I’ve found a Krell KSA 100 MK II that has had a complete overhaul including all new capacitors and a complete function testing and I believe I am going to pull the trigger on this amp. It is far less than the new amps in cost and is a pure class A amp. Yep it’s a heavy beast and may put out more btu than my furnace but the company that did the overhaul (George Meyer AV) assures me this unit sounds every bit as good as the day it came out of the factory. I will post further if and when I take possession of this amp.

Not listened to ML and Pass. Have listened to, now est. 25 years old, when new krell stereo power amp with new Martin Logan Quest speakers. Do not remember which Quest model.

First and foremost the sound was very transparent and had much depth. Second the soundstage was extremely stable in the sense all the music instruments had their fixed position and much space between instruments. A sonic picture or image of the music event was created that was amazing. Of course great clarity and dynamics present too.

You may be very satisfied with Krell and ESL 9.

For near the price of Anthem Str integrated you can get a far better deal with sanders ESL amp.

 

[DanR]

Thanks for that good info RAH, I had the STR on the list too, but the amp not the integrated. Along with parasound JC5 which compares well with the STR

 

[BDH55]

Update
I’ve found a Krell KSA 100 MK II that has had a complete overhaul including all new capacitors and a complete function testing and I believe I am going to pull the trigger on this amp. It is far less than the new amps in cost and is a pure class A amp. Yep it’s a heavy beast and may put out more btu than my furnace but the company that did the overhaul (George Meyer AV) assures me this unit sounds every bit as good as the day it came out of the factory. I will post further if and when I take possession of this amp.

Nice score! Since it's been overhauled I doubt you could go wrong...

 

[DanR]

I hope so it looks from the pics to be in immaculate shape and I finalized the purchase today so by the end of this next week it should be here. It’s coming all the way from the left coast to the mitten. I will be very interested to hear how it fits into my system and how it matches up with my preamp ( Backert Labs Rhumba 1.3) The seller also has the Krell Pam-3 preamp that matches up with that amp but I know nothing about that pre.

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

Post up some photos when you get it, those are crazy amps. I was looking at a pair of KMA 100s a while back but couldn't swallow 4K for amps that needed full rebuilds.

 

[Robert D]

Post up some photos when you get it, those are crazy amps. I was looking at a pair of KMA 100s a while back but couldn't swallow 4K for amps that needed full rebuilds.

How much does a full rebuild for that amp cost? Once rebuilt, is it as good as new? I have zero experience. I'd have to pay someone to do the work.