A new three channel amp, a Krell 3025e, and a conundrum

Lefisc

Lefisc

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Luncy posed a question that came up today for me.:S

I have a question and a small confession to make.

First, I am wondering what three channel amp I should buy for my 6.1 system. The funny attic that I have behind the rear of my sound room won’t allow me to have a 7.1 system


Mt fronts are the Revels Salon IIs and a center of a Revel Voice II. They run on a pair of Krell 600e and, soon, a Krell 400e for the center. It’s on order, I am currently using the 450mcx.

My three rears are Thiel Powerplanes. They are in wall speakers that match up quite nicely. My current amp is a 15 year old Proceed HPA-3 channel.

The MAN from Krell suggested that I get their powerful 3250e and not their S1500/3. He feels that the Thiels would sound much better with the more powerful amp. Some really smart people here have suggested the Parasound and Outlaw Audio.
:disbelief:
Here is my confession, something I should not mention on this site: Money does make a difference. This year I bought the Krell 707, sub-woofers, a phono pre amp, a new JVC 66u projector and maybe a few other things.

The 3250 lists for $10 grand, the lesser Krell for half that price. The Parasound is less.

If the Krell 3250 is a big difference, I would save and do it. But the Powerplanes are in the walls and they are not required to give much bass (they are set for over 80dbs and my SVS subwoofers do the rest). So I really don’t know and there is no way I can audition these speakers.

Does anyone here have an opinion? Si any familiar with these Krells?

Thanks
 
Just so I'm clear, you are trying to find a 3 channel amp for your rear speakers? I've heard of 5.1, 7.1, 9.1, etc. - but never 6.1.

Anyhow - if you are thinking of just your rear speakers, I would save your money. Rear speakers add a real nice ambience and the whole surround affect, but I wouldn't waste your money on an expensive amp for 3 rear channels (if that's what you are going for).

Heck, I would go with an Emotiva 3 channel amp and spend the rest on movies or music or whatever.

Now....I think a sleeper 3 channel amp is the McIntosh 303. It's not inexpensive by any means, but it sure is perdy and powerful!

My vote would be:
Emotiva and save the rest
Parasound - killer value
McIntosh - perdy and powerful

....anything beyond the Mc for rear speakers maybe demonstrate an unrecoverable law of diminishing return.
 
Mike said:
Just so I'm clear, you are trying to find a 3 channel amp for your rear speakers? I've heard of 5.1, 7.1, 9.1, etc. - but never 6.1.

Anyhow - if you are thinking of just your rear speakers, I would save your money. Rear speakers add a real nice ambience and the whole surround affect, but I wouldn't waste your money on an expensive amp for 3 rear channels (if that's what you are going for).

Heck, I would go with an Emotiva 3 channel amp and spend the rest on movies or music or whatever.

Now....I think a sleeper 3 channel amp is the McIntosh 303. It's not inexpensive by any means, but it sure is perdy and powerful!

My vote would be:
Emotiva and save the rest
Parasound - killer value
McIntosh - perdy and powerful

....anything beyond the Mc for rear speakers maybe demonstrate an unrecoverable law of diminishing return.
Click to expand...

+1 !!!!!!!
 
Thanks Mike, your thinking is close to mine. Mark, I am afraid I don't know what you mean.

A 6.1 system combines the two back(not surround channels) and has the sound coming out one center back. So the amp would be used for the two surround and one one rear.

When I bought my house, 20 years ago, I never thought my "Stereo" room would be also used for a home theatre. The Attic roof, which is behind my stereo room, comes across the rear at a 90 degree angle, not as a normal "boxy" room. So i cannot have an amp to the back right, so I put one in at the center.
 
Lefisc said:
Thanks Mike, your thinking is close to mine. Mark, I am afraid I don't know what you mean.

A 6.1 system combines the two back(not surround channels) and has the sound coming out one center back. So the amp would be used for the two surround and one one rear.

When I bought my house, 20 years ago, I never thought my "Stereo" room would be also used for a home theatre. The Attic roof, which is behind my stereo room, comes across the rear at a 90 degree angle, not as a normal "boxy" room. So i cannot have an amp to the back right, so I put one in at the center.
Click to expand...

By putting "+1" - Mark is agreeing with me. It's forum short form for "I agree".

I would also add that an odd shaped room might not give you the kind of ROI from an expensive three channel amp either. What I would do - is go light on the 3 channel amp and get a top notch Surround Sound Processor with a killer multi channel DSP (room correction). I think Krell makes a great one. The McIntosh MX151 is another option. But a great "value" option is the Marantz 8801.

That's what I would do.
 
Mike,

I wasn't clear. The stereo room is a box, 18 by 14 feet. The room behind the rear wall is the funny attic, where my in wall speakers would go. So when you look at the stereo room, you see the two surrounds on the left and right wall, and only one speaker on the rear. By the way, it sounds great.

I have the Krell 707 3D surround and it is spectacular. Of course, I had to sell my brother into slavery to get it. Actually I got it, with trade in, a very good price. The DSP is very good, but with some manual adjustments it is spectacular. I can't tell how much I am enjoying this room.
 
Lefisc said:
Mike,

I wasn't clear. The stereo room is a box, 18 by 14 feet. The room behind the rear wall is the funny attic, where my in wall speakers would go. So when you look at the stereo room, you see the two surrounds on the left and right wall, and only one speaker on the rear. By the way, it sounds great.

I have the Krell 707 3D surround and it is spectacular. Of course, I had to sell my brother into slavery to get it. Actually I got it, with trade in, a very good price. The DSP is very good, but with some manual adjustments it is spectacular. I can't tell how much I am enjoying this room.
Click to expand...

I've heard the 707 is incredible. A friend of mine (a home theater designer) has one and sonically he said its as good as they get.

Here's a thought....replace the rear/back speakers with Revel speakers (S206, S12 or M8's) to keep the voicing similar. Go with the Krell/Parasound/Emotiva or Mc 3 channel and you're done.

Barry - I'm looking at your gear and admittedly, I'm stumped for big areas of improvement. You have a terrific setup. You could tweak here or there....but you already have a great setup.
 
Mike,

First I am NOT eager to add to my system, although I don’t mind trying

The Thiel rear and surround speakers are spectacular and they match very well. And I don’t see a need for changing them. The Revel speakers are not in wall and would create a problem in my house. Also, they are “two in one speakers” with the pair of speakers NOT facing the listener, but to the rear and front.

I had a pair just like that when I set up my room, Fosgate. Fosgate had a very expensive, for the time, pair of surrounds. I think they were close to $2000, 15 years ago. Fosgate went out of business (I think they were bought by Harman Kardon) and I got a new pair for $300.

Simply, I hated them. The directional sound was awful. Eventually I got the Thiels and they were spectacular compared to the Fosgate. And I want to tell you my “funny” Fosgate story later.

My Proceed Amp sounds fine, but at age 15 it is showing signs of age. The triggers are a bit fussy but the on/off/standby button gives me a bit of a problem. I only use the later when putting in a new piece or after a blackout, but if it is facing it’s end, I wanted to prepare and replace, when necessary, rather quickly. However, it has hung on very nicely for a year so far.
 
I agree that rears are for ambience and doesn't need whole lot of power or dynamics. I have Emotiva XPA-5 for rear 4 channels and it does a fine job. I actually tuned off amps for the fronts & center and listend to a movie for few minutes. Not too much loud sounds from the rears... Rears don't need to produce lot of dynamic sounds, so 302e would be overkill, I'm my opinion.
Now, if you listen to 5 channel audio or bluray concerts, then 302e would make sense. But if it is mainly for movies, "lesser" amp for rears would do fine.
 
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