I hardly know where to begin. I have always been an avowed tube lover and swore they had musical properties that somehow escaped transistors (think harmonic retrieval). So, over the years I pretty much turned my nose up at anything that had transistors lurking under the hood because I just *knew* they weren’t as good as tube gear.
I have told the saga about selling my Jadis Defy 7 MKII and not looking over my shoulder as it went bye-bye. I have told the saga about farting around with cheap SS gear from yesteryear (Yamaha C2a preamp and a pair of Phase Linear 400 Series 2 amps) and how surprised I was at how good they sounded. Meanwhile back at the ranch, I sold my beloved Counterpoint SA-5.1 that had been basically rebuilt at great expense by its creator and I took a financial beating on it as I knew I would when I sent it back for the power supply rebuild. The Counterpoint SA-5.1 had to go because it didn’t sound as good (or as quiet) as the Yamaha C2a. And if I can buy something for $400 that kicks ass on something that I had over $5K invested in, guess which product is getting kicked to the curb even if my wallet is taking a beating along the way to the curb?
So let’s talk about preamps for a minute. Over the years, here are some of the preamps that I have OWNED (meaning that I paid money for them and they were part of my system vice borrowed them or heard them somewhere else): PS Audio 4H, Counterpoint SA-7.1, Counterpoint SA-5.1, Counterpoint SA-3000, Classe DR-6, ARC SP-14, BAT VK-3I, CAT SL1 Signature, McIntosh C2300. Atma-Sphere MP-3 MKII rev whatever (I have a special hatred for this preamp), Yamaha C2a, and the Krell KBL. I know I’m leaving some out, but this list is long enough.
I think the Yamaha C2a is a really good sounding preamp and for the money (assuming you can find one-they are pretty rare), they are crazy good. The phono stage alone will knock your socks off and is well worth the price of admission. I just sold an ARC PH-3SE that I had bought to hold me over while my Counterpoint SA-5.1 was back with its creator and the ARC PH-3SE cost 3x as much as the Yamaha C2a did when it was new. The phono stage in the Yamaha is better sounding than the PH-3SE, trust me. The PH-3SE is very quiet for a tube phono stage (it is a hybrid though with J-Fets), but it only has 54dB of gain and it simply sounds OK. The C2a phono stage sounds much the better and has more gain than the ARC. If you own the ARC PH-3SE, you have some snob appeal and some degree of audiophile street creds. If you own the Yamaha, even though you have the superior piece, you have to live in relative shame as your fellow know-it-all audiophile friends will feel pity for your lowly status in the audiophile world.
And here’s the part where those who love their measurements and think they can explain everything need to eat some crow. I defy anyone to explain how the Krell KBA preamp measurements are vastly superior to the Yamaha C2a measurements which are really beyond reproach. Back in the day when Yamaha saw themselves as a manufacturer of high-end two channel gear, the C2a represented pretty much their all out assault on the state of the art for preamps. My point to this is that there is nothing to be gleaned from the measurements that would explain how vastly different these two preamps sound from each other. You can study the measurements until you are blind, but you will have to use your ears to hear how different they sound and the measurements will never tell you why it is so.
So my Krell KBL showed up last evening and I didn’t really know what to expect. Based on all of the preamps I have owned over the years, I have pretty much given up on expecting anything (would that be negative expectation bias?). Out comes the C2a and in goes the Krell. The first hook-up was a disappointment because the left channel was dead. I switched the right and left ICs and confirmed the left main RCA output jack was deader than a doornail. I go to plan B and install a pair of XLR to RCA adapters in the XLR main output jacks. Bingo, I now have both channels playing which is great news. I hope there is just a bad connection on the left main output RCA jack that I can re-solder. I hook up my Def Tech bad boy sub to the right channel RCA main out jack. I turned on my music server, set it for random, and let everything cook for a couple of hours before I came back into my lair.
Cook is a good word to describe the Krell KBA as it runs hot. Both the preamp and power amp circuit are Class A designs. Legend has it that the power supply for the Krell KBL could power a 25 watt power amplifier and we will return to the notion of a preamp as power amp shortly. So I return to my music room, pick out Charles Mingus Tijuana Moods, give it a good cleaning on the VPI 16.5 RPM, and plop it on the platter of my Technics SP-10 MKII/SME 3012/Benz Glider SL combo which is playing through the Krell KPE Reference phono stage. Oh my…
I really don’t even know where to begin in order to describe the differences in sound between the Krell KBL and everything else that has come before it. The KBL is in a far different place than those that has come before it. Everything you play through this system just makes way more sense than it ever has. The suspension of disbelief that you are actually listening to live music has never been higher. Noise has never been lower by the way. This is one quiet preamp. Every record I played provided a new experience that took me far deeper into the music and away from mechanical/electrical artifacts that usually intrude in some way. To think that this preamp has already been thrown to the dustbin of high-end gear by the cognoscenti is sort of funny. Funny because the quality of this preamp has probably been exceeded (and that is sort of scary-I’m looking forward to the RMAF so I can hear the cost-no-object systems), but it’s hard to imagine how it can get much better. I can see why people who are Krell lovers and owned the KBL and “moved on” still have fond memories of the KBL and for some, regrets.
The KBL is full of dichotomies for me. It has less gain than other preamps that I have owned (even with the gain switch turned on which adds another 6dB I believe). That means you have to turn the volume control higher to achieve the same levels you are used to with other preamps. Even with less gain and the attendant higher settings of the volume control, the KBL is simply much quieter than other preamps that have graced my system over the years. The KBL seems like it is supercharged somehow in terms of the power it brings to the music. And power is a good way to describe what I’m hearing. I’m sure that outboard power supply is the engine behind that power. I kept thinking last night that the KBL is a preamp and power amp. It’s hard to wrap your head around until you hear it. If you did, you would understand (I think).
So meanwhile back at the ranch, the amps I’m currently using are the Phase Linear 400 Series 2 which has long ago been thrown to the dustbin of audiophile history and some on this forum have openly sneered at them even though I’m not sure if they ever owned this amp or the original version. The Phase Linear 400 Series 2 amp was good enough to make me sell my Jadis Defy 7 MKII which I realize is heresy. I haven’t missed that French nightmare once since I sold it. And as good as I thought the PL 400 Series 2 sounded, I realized last night that I had never gotten to the bottom of them (and I doubt anyone else has either). The KBL showed there was much more there to be heard through them. I defy anyone to find an amp that sounds this good, has this much power, is this quiet, and you can buy it on the street for around $400. Contrary to what the snoot suits will tell you, this amp will embarrass some much higher priced current amps on the market.
And having said all of that, I do have a Krell KSA-250 on its way to me as I type this. It is scheduled to be delivered this coming Wednesday-all 140 lbs of it. The KSA-250 was designed to go with the KBL I believe. My KPA Reference was also from around the same time period. So now we will see how much further this journey is going to go by inserting the KSA-250 into the system. If the KSA-250 sounds great, I’m still keeping one of the Phase Linear 400 Series 2 amps as a backup for those times when bad things happen. I have owned other backup amps over the years only to discover that I wouldn’t put them back in my system because I didn’t want to listen to them. This won’t be the case with the PL-it sounds damn good regardless of what the misinformed tell you.
I don‘t know what to expect on Wednesday, but I’m looking forward to it.
I have told the saga about selling my Jadis Defy 7 MKII and not looking over my shoulder as it went bye-bye. I have told the saga about farting around with cheap SS gear from yesteryear (Yamaha C2a preamp and a pair of Phase Linear 400 Series 2 amps) and how surprised I was at how good they sounded. Meanwhile back at the ranch, I sold my beloved Counterpoint SA-5.1 that had been basically rebuilt at great expense by its creator and I took a financial beating on it as I knew I would when I sent it back for the power supply rebuild. The Counterpoint SA-5.1 had to go because it didn’t sound as good (or as quiet) as the Yamaha C2a. And if I can buy something for $400 that kicks ass on something that I had over $5K invested in, guess which product is getting kicked to the curb even if my wallet is taking a beating along the way to the curb?
So let’s talk about preamps for a minute. Over the years, here are some of the preamps that I have OWNED (meaning that I paid money for them and they were part of my system vice borrowed them or heard them somewhere else): PS Audio 4H, Counterpoint SA-7.1, Counterpoint SA-5.1, Counterpoint SA-3000, Classe DR-6, ARC SP-14, BAT VK-3I, CAT SL1 Signature, McIntosh C2300. Atma-Sphere MP-3 MKII rev whatever (I have a special hatred for this preamp), Yamaha C2a, and the Krell KBL. I know I’m leaving some out, but this list is long enough.
I think the Yamaha C2a is a really good sounding preamp and for the money (assuming you can find one-they are pretty rare), they are crazy good. The phono stage alone will knock your socks off and is well worth the price of admission. I just sold an ARC PH-3SE that I had bought to hold me over while my Counterpoint SA-5.1 was back with its creator and the ARC PH-3SE cost 3x as much as the Yamaha C2a did when it was new. The phono stage in the Yamaha is better sounding than the PH-3SE, trust me. The PH-3SE is very quiet for a tube phono stage (it is a hybrid though with J-Fets), but it only has 54dB of gain and it simply sounds OK. The C2a phono stage sounds much the better and has more gain than the ARC. If you own the ARC PH-3SE, you have some snob appeal and some degree of audiophile street creds. If you own the Yamaha, even though you have the superior piece, you have to live in relative shame as your fellow know-it-all audiophile friends will feel pity for your lowly status in the audiophile world.
And here’s the part where those who love their measurements and think they can explain everything need to eat some crow. I defy anyone to explain how the Krell KBA preamp measurements are vastly superior to the Yamaha C2a measurements which are really beyond reproach. Back in the day when Yamaha saw themselves as a manufacturer of high-end two channel gear, the C2a represented pretty much their all out assault on the state of the art for preamps. My point to this is that there is nothing to be gleaned from the measurements that would explain how vastly different these two preamps sound from each other. You can study the measurements until you are blind, but you will have to use your ears to hear how different they sound and the measurements will never tell you why it is so.
So my Krell KBL showed up last evening and I didn’t really know what to expect. Based on all of the preamps I have owned over the years, I have pretty much given up on expecting anything (would that be negative expectation bias?). Out comes the C2a and in goes the Krell. The first hook-up was a disappointment because the left channel was dead. I switched the right and left ICs and confirmed the left main RCA output jack was deader than a doornail. I go to plan B and install a pair of XLR to RCA adapters in the XLR main output jacks. Bingo, I now have both channels playing which is great news. I hope there is just a bad connection on the left main output RCA jack that I can re-solder. I hook up my Def Tech bad boy sub to the right channel RCA main out jack. I turned on my music server, set it for random, and let everything cook for a couple of hours before I came back into my lair.
Cook is a good word to describe the Krell KBA as it runs hot. Both the preamp and power amp circuit are Class A designs. Legend has it that the power supply for the Krell KBL could power a 25 watt power amplifier and we will return to the notion of a preamp as power amp shortly. So I return to my music room, pick out Charles Mingus Tijuana Moods, give it a good cleaning on the VPI 16.5 RPM, and plop it on the platter of my Technics SP-10 MKII/SME 3012/Benz Glider SL combo which is playing through the Krell KPE Reference phono stage. Oh my…
I really don’t even know where to begin in order to describe the differences in sound between the Krell KBL and everything else that has come before it. The KBL is in a far different place than those that has come before it. Everything you play through this system just makes way more sense than it ever has. The suspension of disbelief that you are actually listening to live music has never been higher. Noise has never been lower by the way. This is one quiet preamp. Every record I played provided a new experience that took me far deeper into the music and away from mechanical/electrical artifacts that usually intrude in some way. To think that this preamp has already been thrown to the dustbin of high-end gear by the cognoscenti is sort of funny. Funny because the quality of this preamp has probably been exceeded (and that is sort of scary-I’m looking forward to the RMAF so I can hear the cost-no-object systems), but it’s hard to imagine how it can get much better. I can see why people who are Krell lovers and owned the KBL and “moved on” still have fond memories of the KBL and for some, regrets.
The KBL is full of dichotomies for me. It has less gain than other preamps that I have owned (even with the gain switch turned on which adds another 6dB I believe). That means you have to turn the volume control higher to achieve the same levels you are used to with other preamps. Even with less gain and the attendant higher settings of the volume control, the KBL is simply much quieter than other preamps that have graced my system over the years. The KBL seems like it is supercharged somehow in terms of the power it brings to the music. And power is a good way to describe what I’m hearing. I’m sure that outboard power supply is the engine behind that power. I kept thinking last night that the KBL is a preamp and power amp. It’s hard to wrap your head around until you hear it. If you did, you would understand (I think).
So meanwhile back at the ranch, the amps I’m currently using are the Phase Linear 400 Series 2 which has long ago been thrown to the dustbin of audiophile history and some on this forum have openly sneered at them even though I’m not sure if they ever owned this amp or the original version. The Phase Linear 400 Series 2 amp was good enough to make me sell my Jadis Defy 7 MKII which I realize is heresy. I haven’t missed that French nightmare once since I sold it. And as good as I thought the PL 400 Series 2 sounded, I realized last night that I had never gotten to the bottom of them (and I doubt anyone else has either). The KBL showed there was much more there to be heard through them. I defy anyone to find an amp that sounds this good, has this much power, is this quiet, and you can buy it on the street for around $400. Contrary to what the snoot suits will tell you, this amp will embarrass some much higher priced current amps on the market.
And having said all of that, I do have a Krell KSA-250 on its way to me as I type this. It is scheduled to be delivered this coming Wednesday-all 140 lbs of it. The KSA-250 was designed to go with the KBL I believe. My KPA Reference was also from around the same time period. So now we will see how much further this journey is going to go by inserting the KSA-250 into the system. If the KSA-250 sounds great, I’m still keeping one of the Phase Linear 400 Series 2 amps as a backup for those times when bad things happen. I have owned other backup amps over the years only to discover that I wouldn’t put them back in my system because I didn’t want to listen to them. This won’t be the case with the PL-it sounds damn good regardless of what the misinformed tell you.
I don‘t know what to expect on Wednesday, but I’m looking forward to it.
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