Yes I know the journey is long, my Kraft 300 Monoblocks took 1500 hrs. Looking forward to the adventure.
Symphonic Line
- Thread starter Skanda
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Klaus Bunge @ Odyssey Audio is the distributor/importer and from my experience with both SL and odyssey: the f*ckin man!
Seriously, awesome guy to work with.
I believe Gideon @ AudioArts NYC carries SL as well. He'll likely tell you FMA is better though
(in my humble opinion, it's not lol).Looks like Kraft 300 MK3 mono is current top of the line. It's class A but do they run hot like Pass XA?Klaus Bunge @ Odyssey Audio is the distributor/importer and from my experience with both SL and odyssey: the f*ckin man!
Seriously, awesome guy to work with.
I believe Gideon @ AudioArts NYC carries SL as well. He'll likely tell you FMA is better though
i have the 300 mk3 stereo - its not super hot to the touch in my room at least. for me it's powering some magico s5mk2's and being fed by a soulution 721 pre (soulution+sl is worth giving a shot if you have a chance to listen). on average, it ups the temp in my room by about 2 deg F an hour. so during extended listening in the summer it deff gets warm but not unbearable esp when i run the ac for short bursts. in the winter it's no problem at all
Joshua at Scienceofsightandsound has been the foremost expert on all matters Symphonic LIne for the last 30 years in the USA... And he will not BS his potential clients in any way unlike some....
Their amps are NOT full Class A. Their amps run in Class A up to a certain point, I think to about 25 watts or so, depending on the model, and then switch to Class Ab, but their sound is better than most everyone else's Class A amps mentioned here....by a mile , if one know what live music sounds like, not how it should sound. IMHO of course.....
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This is great news. In general, I find class A a bit too dark and slow for my taste. For some reason I always thought they are class A. Thanks for the clarification!
Interesting you should say that as a friend describes the "speeding" experience of listening to music thru my Kraft 250 "...like drinking a triple ristretto to relax after swallowing an ounce of speed". Once, when I had the RG4 monos, we were listening to Yello on LP and he actually claimed that I had the TT on higher speed (I didn't, it was spot on) and he still jokingly maintains that Rolf Gemein does something to his power amps to make the music sound faster than normal!
He also claims the sound is "unnaturally" dynamic
Said friend has FMA (that I love) & Vitus (which I like) amplification.
The RG-4 monoblocks are simply fantastic, I think these are the hidden gems in the SL line up of products. And not outrageously expensive either! Our area SL dealer (Scienceofsightandsound in Princeton, NJ) used to prefer the SL-4 monoblocks to the Kraft series, but that was awhile ago, may be the current Mk3 Kraft have caught up .. The SL-4 surely have the most amazing tonality, even rivaling mine classic Classe DR-3.Interesting you should say that as a friend describes the "speeding" experience of listening to music thru my Kraft 250 "...like drinking a triple ristretto to relax after swallowing an ounce of speed". Once, when I had the RG4 monos, we were listening to Yello on LP and he actually claimed that I had the TT on higher speed (I didn't, it was spot on) and he still jokingly maintains that Rolf Gemein does something to his power amps to make the music sound faster than normal!
He also claims the sound is "unnaturally" dynamic
Said friend has FMA (that I love) & Vitus (which I like) amplification.
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Stereophile reviewed Kraft 400 monos (maybe the first generation of 250) in 1994. And the test results were not so good. I am not sure if Synphonic line has upgrade their circuits to meet the objective test criteria... can't find any test results except that review in 1994.
Anyway, Symphonic Line amps are quite well-known for driving Dynaudio speakers. Any user here?
Anyway, Symphonic Line amps are quite well-known for driving Dynaudio speakers. Any user here?
I think there was an issue with the inrush current limiter with the review sample, and the issue was resolved many moons ago
As far as Dynaudio models, I have heard them many times with Naim. And it is a BRIGHT sound! Even their $70K speakers
So I can totally see how symphonic line would synergize nicely with Dynaudio
My new 40th Anniversary SL Kraft 300 Mk3 Stereo (Dual Mono) Amplifier arrived this week and joined its Kraft 300 Mk3 mono-block brothers. Having the four mono blocks allows me to bi-amp my Tidal Agoria speakers. Initial impressions are very promising after a few hours of burn-in and believe I hear more inner detailing and dynamics..... but way too early to conclude. I can only imagine what I will be experiencing after 1500 hours of burn-in. The output volumes of the amps appear to be dead on with no noticeable time delays or volume differences. The interior circuits of the 40th Anniversary Kraft 300Mk3 Stereo and the standard Kraft 300Mk3 mono-blocks are almost identical except for a few higher grade parts in the 40th Anniversary model. More to follow as they break-in. Long Journey ahead but off to a great start.
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Wow, they really improved the looks of the Kraft. They use to be in ugly black boxes. I am very familiar with the Vimberg speakers with diamond tweeters and they are fantastic.
Opted for the chrome version which are more attractive and have the WAF. Yes the Vimberg speakers are exceptional but the Tidal Audio Masterpiece Line which includes the Agoria is a leap above.
beautiful set up! do you have the krafts plugged into outlets or the power isolation unit (looks like an inakustik but might be the shunyata)?
Thanks Skanda, they are plugged into the Synergistic Research PowerCell SX power conditioner which I find doesn’t limit the voltage to the amps. The Powercell SX for the Amps is plugged into a dedicated 20 amp circuit while the source components and preamps are plugged into a second PowerCell SX on its own 20 amp circuit. The PowerCell SX’s allow for a darker background, increased clarity and the sound is more holographic.
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that's right, synergistic. was totally blanking on the name. i have mine plugged into a torus one of the bigger units...the confusing thing for me is it is capable of delivering some off 60amps of current but the screen never shows more than 5 or so amps being pulled. similarly, the sound has never seemed strained to me at all.
either way, glad to see someone else not doing the direct outlet set up. i'll have to look into the powercell. are you using synergistic for the power cables as well?
No I am using Nordost Odin2 Power Cords right now but may be changing in near future
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