Krell Saga
- Thread starter mep
- Start date
Mark is probably absorbed in some listening, so I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't post until tomorrow. I hope the Krell combo surpasses his expectations.
Lee
Lee
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
It's Saturday morning and I really don't have a lot to report yet. I'm not going to judge the Krell gear until they are broken in a good deal more. The KBL doesn't have as much gain as I'm used to in a preamp. Even with the gain switch engaged, it's still less. I guess the plus side of that is that you get to use more of the volume control range. I could never get much past 9:00 on the volume knob before without rocking the house down with my other preamps. Now I'm closer to 11:00 with the KBL. I am running balanced MIT ICs between the KBL and the KSA-250 and they are brand new as well.
I had to turn my bass controls on the subs that are built into my speakers down which isn't a big shocker given the reputation of the KSA-250. If you have never seen a KSA-250 in the flesh (or metal), pictures don't do it justice. It's a beast. A handsome beast though. And yes, it runs hot. It truly does raise the temperature of your listening room as others have reported.
The first three hours after the system was hooked back up were spent with the music server driving the system. The KSA-250 didn't really start cooking (temperature wise) until I started playing LPs and tape. Even the KBL preamp power supply runs damn hot as the KBL runs in Class A as well. If I had to use a single adjective to describe the sound now, it would be "pure." We could substitute "clean" or "transparent" and I think you would get the idea.
I played the 45 RPM version of St. John's Infirmary last night (on clear vinyl) and it sounded really good. I wish I could say it sounded as good as the 30 ips tape that belongs to Chad Kassem that Mike Spitz played for us. It was cut literally from the same cloth, but the tape is just such a stunner. The LP is damn good though. If I hadn't heard the tape, I would be really singing the praises of this LP. I could almost reach out and touch Louis Armstrong.
I played all jazz last night with the exception of Lightnin Hopkins. I was comparing the Lightnin Hopkins to the sound I heard of this LP being played at RMAF over the new Clearaudio table with the Graham tonearm and the Clearaudio Goldfinger $10K+ cartridge. I wish I could say I was getting that sound, but I'm not. Maybe if I had a Goldfinger hanging off the end of my SME 312S instead of a $1K+ Benz Glider SL I would come closer, but that is not the fault of the *new* Krell gear. Don't get me wrong here, the sound was still magnificent.
Everything I played through the system sounded very good. Cafe Blue sounded like the typical Patricia Barber sound-laid back like jazz light for a Sunday morning. I should have played some Diana Krall to see if she sounded as nasally as she sounded in all of the rooms I heard her being played in at RMAF. People love to demo with Diana Krall, and most of them shouldn't. The Benny Goodman tape that Myles turned me on to is a real stunner and it rocked the house down. Even though there is too much left/right stereo separation in this recording, the realism that was captured of the sound of the instruments is breathtaking. You feel like you could get up and stroll around the people playing the instruments on the stage they sound so real. The Krell gear notched up this realism factor.
We are off to a promising start. I obviously need to spend much more time with the Krell gear before I get the full measure of what it is doing for the overall sound of my system. I did leave the KSA-250 turned on last night which I won't be doing often. I think I can hear my power meter spinning outside.
More to come...
I had to turn my bass controls on the subs that are built into my speakers down which isn't a big shocker given the reputation of the KSA-250. If you have never seen a KSA-250 in the flesh (or metal), pictures don't do it justice. It's a beast. A handsome beast though. And yes, it runs hot. It truly does raise the temperature of your listening room as others have reported.
The first three hours after the system was hooked back up were spent with the music server driving the system. The KSA-250 didn't really start cooking (temperature wise) until I started playing LPs and tape. Even the KBL preamp power supply runs damn hot as the KBL runs in Class A as well. If I had to use a single adjective to describe the sound now, it would be "pure." We could substitute "clean" or "transparent" and I think you would get the idea.
I played the 45 RPM version of St. John's Infirmary last night (on clear vinyl) and it sounded really good. I wish I could say it sounded as good as the 30 ips tape that belongs to Chad Kassem that Mike Spitz played for us. It was cut literally from the same cloth, but the tape is just such a stunner. The LP is damn good though. If I hadn't heard the tape, I would be really singing the praises of this LP. I could almost reach out and touch Louis Armstrong.
I played all jazz last night with the exception of Lightnin Hopkins. I was comparing the Lightnin Hopkins to the sound I heard of this LP being played at RMAF over the new Clearaudio table with the Graham tonearm and the Clearaudio Goldfinger $10K+ cartridge. I wish I could say I was getting that sound, but I'm not. Maybe if I had a Goldfinger hanging off the end of my SME 312S instead of a $1K+ Benz Glider SL I would come closer, but that is not the fault of the *new* Krell gear. Don't get me wrong here, the sound was still magnificent.
Everything I played through the system sounded very good. Cafe Blue sounded like the typical Patricia Barber sound-laid back like jazz light for a Sunday morning. I should have played some Diana Krall to see if she sounded as nasally as she sounded in all of the rooms I heard her being played in at RMAF. People love to demo with Diana Krall, and most of them shouldn't. The Benny Goodman tape that Myles turned me on to is a real stunner and it rocked the house down. Even though there is too much left/right stereo separation in this recording, the realism that was captured of the sound of the instruments is breathtaking. You feel like you could get up and stroll around the people playing the instruments on the stage they sound so real. The Krell gear notched up this realism factor.
We are off to a promising start. I obviously need to spend much more time with the Krell gear before I get the full measure of what it is doing for the overall sound of my system. I did leave the KSA-250 turned on last night which I won't be doing often. I think I can hear my power meter spinning outside.
More to come...
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Actually both happen: adaption and electrical changes.
And the better the gear, the less the colorations and the better they work with different systems. And one thing no one has ever criticized Krell about, no matter the system, about is their low end!
And the better the gear, the less the colorations and the better they work with different systems. And one thing no one has ever criticized Krell about, no matter the system, about is their low end!
Some of these people have actually owned this amp Tom and they are intimately familiar with how it sounds. If there is such a thing as a universal SS amp meaning that it can drive basically any speaker known to man, this is certainly one of them.
Aside from the fact that you contradicted yourself with your second sentence, I’m not sure I understand what point you are trying to make with the above statements. Most reasonable people agree that new gear has to burn-in before the sound locks into what you can expect to hear every time you turn on your system (after it has warmed up of course). Most all of the OEMs that design and make the gear we listen to provide estimated burn-in times. The last statement you made above that “Ears adapt, not solid state” is meaningless to me because I’m not sure if you are saying SS doesn’t need any break in time or you are saying it doesn’t need any warm up time, or if you are saying both. Either way, I don’t agree with your conclusion.
You may have been around the block too many times, but you’re still carrying your Hafler gear that you have been toting for many years so nothing is changing in your system. There is nothing to burn in. If you tell me that you always turn your preamp and power amps off after you finish listening and when you power it up the next time the sound never changes as your gear warms up, good for you. And yes, Krell did tell me to expect changes to the sound after the capacitors have fully broken in.
Bad digital
I only have one of her albums as a DVD-A and I didn't notice a nasal sound.
Rich
I have often thought Diana Krall has a smokey quality at times much like Julie London. Bad digital hash I guess could be the reason,you would think that most exhibitors at shows could spot that a mile a way.
btw I switched coupling caps on my digital rig.....it came with Wima MkP's that sound edgy. I switched to Mundorfs.....smooth as silk.
We need to think back about what Gary said. The systems normally sound best on the last day of the show. Why? Because everything has normally been left on and the system has spent more time playing music. I heard a huge difference in the sound of Gary's room from Thursday night to Friday morning. And Tom, that goes against your "ears acclimating" theory. When you go from room to room to room, your ears are constantly hearing a different sound from the vastly different systems. Gary's system didn't sound much better on Friday because my ears had acclimated to the sound of it. Hopefully Gary will chime in here with his thoughts.
As for smokey voices, I would put Patrica Barber in that catagory before I would put Diana Krall in it.
Yes she does have a nasally style. I've watched her live but you can see it better in her concert DVD closeups.
Tom-I promise you that I'm not trying to tell you anything. I cried "Uncle" with you awhile ago. Believe what you want to believe and try to be happy.
