Lefisc
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I am anxiously looking forward to a new addition to my system: A Krell 400i amp for my center channel. This will match my current 600i for the left and right and give the (center) Revel Voice II a closer sound to the left and right Salon IIs.
As soon as it is set up I will give a review and a simple user’s opinion, which I am very optimistic about. But I wanted to put my expectations on record and see if it works out.
I am looking for things that will last several year. It’s not just the finances or the lack of a good back necessary to rotate products and rewire everything often, but I no longer have that pressing desire to keep looking for the next best thing. That used to be fun for me, but now there are so few hi fi stores and its so difficult to listen to or find what I want to hear. And what we all have these days is so damn good.
Many reviewers have a direct or indirect financial interest in the products they are auditioning. They often can either get the component free or at a very low price and then sell them when they get something new. So it is in their personal interest to promote new products. I am looking for products that will last and be enjoyed for some time.
Companies do have a specific sound. For 20 years I liked the warm, enveloping sound of the Mark Levenson line: preamps, CDs, and amps. There was a slight loss of detail in the upper edges, but a distinct midrange. For a lot of that time the Krell amps, for me, were very forward and powerful, but had a harsh high end, with a detailed, but almost hissing top. The sound was not warm, but very out front.
Everything changed at the beginning of the millennium. ML was no longer made by Madrigal, but by Harmon Kardon. I don’t think they have the intellectual capacity or the true desire to produce and maintain quality products. I dealt with their service on the consumer level, where they returned items broken, and several times AND often took 6 months to do it. They closed down their dedicated repair places, fired the people who were trained and put it into other HK service areas, which often didn’t have the parts. If you can check it out, you can see they have almost none of the dealers they had in the year 2000, they gave up. When reviewers say that they have gotten good service from a company I realize:
When I wanted to go from my stereo amp to two ML monos (I forget whether it was the 333 or 336) three or four of the ML arrived DOA. My dealer pretty much gave up on ML at that time and I began to listen, where I could, to other amps.
How Krell had changed. Their amps were warm and detailed and had a great overall sound. I bought the 750 which I got for my left and rights, and the 450mcx which I still have for my center channel. A few years later my dealer let me try out the 600. I expected a step up, but not such a big one. These amps were so quiet they made the music and movies sound so much richer, more forward and real. To this day I am surprised at the difference.
But there was a problem: These amps, even on standby, were red hot and they heated up my room by 10-15 degrees. It was unbearable in the summer. So I put some holes in the wall behind the preamp and moved them into the garage on a special stand. You have no idea how hot the garage got in the summer. And my Long Island electric bills went up nearly $1,500 a year!
Four years later, I upgraded to the 600i, which are better but not by a giant step, but a pretty good step. Even quieter. They use roughly 2% of the power of the 600s on standby, so they are actually paying for themselves! And the room is not over heated.
Krell service has been nothing short of responsive, complete and generous.
I really think that the 600 will make a big difference in the Home Theatre part system and I can’t wait. Of it works out I will connect the five channel outputs to my SACD.
I hope to get it all set up by the end of next week.
As soon as it is set up I will give a review and a simple user’s opinion, which I am very optimistic about. But I wanted to put my expectations on record and see if it works out.
I am looking for things that will last several year. It’s not just the finances or the lack of a good back necessary to rotate products and rewire everything often, but I no longer have that pressing desire to keep looking for the next best thing. That used to be fun for me, but now there are so few hi fi stores and its so difficult to listen to or find what I want to hear. And what we all have these days is so damn good.
Many reviewers have a direct or indirect financial interest in the products they are auditioning. They often can either get the component free or at a very low price and then sell them when they get something new. So it is in their personal interest to promote new products. I am looking for products that will last and be enjoyed for some time.
Companies do have a specific sound. For 20 years I liked the warm, enveloping sound of the Mark Levenson line: preamps, CDs, and amps. There was a slight loss of detail in the upper edges, but a distinct midrange. For a lot of that time the Krell amps, for me, were very forward and powerful, but had a harsh high end, with a detailed, but almost hissing top. The sound was not warm, but very out front.
Everything changed at the beginning of the millennium. ML was no longer made by Madrigal, but by Harmon Kardon. I don’t think they have the intellectual capacity or the true desire to produce and maintain quality products. I dealt with their service on the consumer level, where they returned items broken, and several times AND often took 6 months to do it. They closed down their dedicated repair places, fired the people who were trained and put it into other HK service areas, which often didn’t have the parts. If you can check it out, you can see they have almost none of the dealers they had in the year 2000, they gave up. When reviewers say that they have gotten good service from a company I realize:
- The company wants a good review and they treat him differently than me.
- He is dealing directly with an administrator, I have to deal with tech support.
When I wanted to go from my stereo amp to two ML monos (I forget whether it was the 333 or 336) three or four of the ML arrived DOA. My dealer pretty much gave up on ML at that time and I began to listen, where I could, to other amps.
How Krell had changed. Their amps were warm and detailed and had a great overall sound. I bought the 750 which I got for my left and rights, and the 450mcx which I still have for my center channel. A few years later my dealer let me try out the 600. I expected a step up, but not such a big one. These amps were so quiet they made the music and movies sound so much richer, more forward and real. To this day I am surprised at the difference.
But there was a problem: These amps, even on standby, were red hot and they heated up my room by 10-15 degrees. It was unbearable in the summer. So I put some holes in the wall behind the preamp and moved them into the garage on a special stand. You have no idea how hot the garage got in the summer. And my Long Island electric bills went up nearly $1,500 a year!
Four years later, I upgraded to the 600i, which are better but not by a giant step, but a pretty good step. Even quieter. They use roughly 2% of the power of the 600s on standby, so they are actually paying for themselves! And the room is not over heated.
Krell service has been nothing short of responsive, complete and generous.
I really think that the 600 will make a big difference in the Home Theatre part system and I can’t wait. Of it works out I will connect the five channel outputs to my SACD.
I hope to get it all set up by the end of next week.
