Did he post impressions online?
What was the price the S400 sold for?
From everything I read it seems the S600 is the amp that really brings incredible performance and is a big step above the S400.
Any Karan Acqustics owners here?
- Thread starter Smokin' Joe
- Start date
Did he post impressions online?
What was the price the S400 sold for?
From everything I read it seems the S600 is the amp that really brings incredible performance and is a big step above the S400.
Pass is more musical and meaty IMO.
What type of sound do you like ?
If you want something very fast, transparent, neutral, a little lean but sweet sounding than you will like Karan.
I have made some comparisons at my dealers with a KAS 600 and the best results we got was with a tube preamp or tube DAC in the chain, a full Karan rig was pretty boring or not engaging.
Again this is only my opinion and my taste.
I never make a purchase decision without auditioning.
Look at Kingfisher's rig, he is using his Karan monos with Audio research pre and Lampizator DAC, this must me an awsome sounding rig.
Hrm. I am thinking of maybe cancelling my demo and just focusing on finding an X250.8 or 350.8 for a good price. I know that if I buy Pass I will probably love it and if I don't I can always sell.
I guess I like a neutral sound, I do like sparkle in the treble but I like weight in the mids and powerful bass. My old brystons were quite good but maybe slightly lean. I don't want to go mcintosh warm but something slightly warmer than bryston maybe.
My friend is telling me not to buy the karan because of poor re-sale ability.
Your Friend is right, if you buy Karan you will not want to re-sale it.
From what you are describing the Karan sound could suit you.
If you like Bryston than i can tell you right away that Karan is better no doubt about that.
Pass obviously has a much better re-sale value.
Good luck.
Thanks man. I am thinking of buying Pass... maybe X150.8 and then doing my Karan trial and seeing what wins.
Yes you should do your Karan trial anyway if you have a chance before making a decision.
Good luck in your search.
Well ya if I do the trial and compare to teh pass and Karan is better, I can sell my pass without too much trouble probably.
Total control over my FS Ktema speakers, very smooth, musical, dynamic, probably one of the best sold state amps out there for the price. I use it with tube Ayon CD35 preamp/cd/sacd/dac/DSDupsampler. Very good combination in my opinion, and quite simple system, not to many boxes
Total control over my FS Ktema speakers, very smooth, musical, dynamic, probably one of the best sold state amps out there for the price. I use it with tube Ayon CD35 preamp/cd/sacd/dac/DSDupsampler. Very good combination in my opinion, and quite simple system, not to many boxes
Which model do you have? Have you compared it to any other amps like pass labs or luxman ?
I used to have the KAS 270 and KAL ref with phono on Von Schiewert Audio unifield 2 speakers. I ve changed two years ago to an integrated (Vitus Ri 101) with an Allnic phono. Before to get the Allnic, I was using the phono stage of the KAL with the tape output. I ve found the the Vitus Ri 101 has a reacher sound (in the high) and more warm. The sound stage has a little bit more deep with the Karan. I heard from a friend (with very good ears) that Karan has improved the high with the KAS600 compared to the KAS 450 and KAS 270.
Ya I talked to an audiophile today who loved the S600 and had the KA L ref preamp. He preferred audio research ref6 pre though and said he would take XA series pass over S600 but they are similar level of performance with pass being more reliable.
I also heard that older preamps will not extract most from power amps. New Karan top preamp should do the job though. I am using Ayon CD35 tube preamp section to control it and it works well in my opinion.
@tobiasrankin I had Hegel H300 before and tested MSB S201 but with my previous speakers Focal Sopra 2. MSB was not huge enough difference to justify the price. Karan listening was separated in time, so hard to compare. Would love to test more ,but as I am happy with the sound at the moment, I would rather not
@tobiasrankin I had Hegel H300 before and tested MSB S201 but with my previous speakers Focal Sopra 2. MSB was not huge enough difference to justify the price. Karan listening was separated in time, so hard to compare. Would love to test more ,but as I am happy with the sound at the moment, I would rather not
I talked to one guy who has experience with Karan and Pass. He says the Karan amps are very good and in the same league as Pass XA series. He recommends at minimum S600 though. He did say though he feels Pass will be more reliable.
If I could get a good used S600 for a great price wouldn't mind checking it out, looks like a truly beastly amp.
If I could get a good used S600 for a great price wouldn't mind checking it out, looks like a truly beastly amp.
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