Krell 600e

Lefisc

New member
Joined
Jun 29, 2013
Messages
482
Location
Long Island, New York
“Oh, it blows it away!!!!”

Ever since I started buying stereo and video stuff, salesman will ask me what I have. When I tell them they often said of their product, “Oh, it blows it away!!!!”

Well, with the exception of Hurricane Sandy I have seldom been blown away. But I have been impressed, highly impressed and sometimes surprised.

My biggest surprise was when I first installed a “high end” amp, a Mark Levinson 27 (later updated to a balanced 27.5) in my system. It replaced a Tandberg 3007 (I think). That was a huge jump. At that point I realized that my ADS speakers were not in the same league. I bought a pair of Thiel 5s.

Several years later I bought a ML 333, another stereo amp that made me also jump up to the Thiel 7s. It was a good combination.

When I decided to go to separate mono amps, I went to the Krell 720s and was remarkably impressed. Powerful, I heard bass and mid range like I had never heard it before. Don’t tell anyone, but previous Krell amps often has noise, perhaps a hiss, at the high frequencies. They finally tamed that. But I also knew these were powerful amps and I could get better speakers. So I bought the speakers I have now, the Revel Studio IIs.

My dealer suggested I try the Krell 600s when they came out. Well, as good as the 720s were, these were a remarkable step up. Their sound was a remarkably quiet and powerful one. I could not believe the step up from the 720. The details were crisper the bass powerful yet distinct. I was totally impressed, the music sounded so real.

The $1,500 Answer

There were two severe problems with the Krell 600 however. They generated more heat than you can imagine, raising the room temperature by 20 degrees. No joke. This was a big problem and I had to place the amps in the garage, the room next to my stereo room.

It also raised my electric bill over $100 a month, close to $1,500 a year. These problems were not acceptable. When the two amps failed, almost at the same time, I returned them to Krell. They said that this was a common failure because of a bad set of parts that were put in to many of those amps.

My dealer encouraged me, of course, to then get the next generation: the 660es. I did. While they were not the big jump that the 600 form the 720 were, these were still better amps. They only raise the room temp by 5 degrees and the ad says it uses 99.5 les power at standby.

The sound was remarkably smoother and more musical, and I loved the sound of the 600. There is no sign of a strain on any music. The details are rich, the music is great and the surround sound aspects of watching a movie, music, sound effects, voices are outstanding. Now, again, it’s not a huge step over the 600s, but a noticeable one. In fact, it may blow away the 720s. OOOPS:bonkers:

Oh, my electric bill went down over $100 a month.
 
This is the kind of audio journey that dreams are made of. Every change being for the better and noticing it as well. Thanks for sharing Barry. :)
 
Hi Doug.

It is really great to get positive feedback. I've made a few mistakes along the way. There is a certain amont of work that goes into choosing the best speakers for your room, the best amps for speakers, the best sources for your amps and the best wires ffor everything. That is why sites like this are more important than ever. Simply there are fewer and fewer stereo stores to go to and try out equipment. So I want to read what works, what doesn't and what products gave the most trouble.
 
Barry,

Thanks for posting. It's great every step is a positive change and we learn from past experience.
 
Barry - great write up. Fun journey! Let me ask you, do the 600e's get hot or heat up a room?
 
Great story. But I would have baled on Krell or any other brand if I had so many hiccups.

John
 
Congrats Barry !!! I've heard that the new Evolution series is supposed to be pretty amazing :exciting:
 
Back
Top