Krell XD gear in the House Initial Impressions


For those who were following a post we started a few weeks ago about considering bringing in Krell gear here is our follow up post after we just received the display gear.

We had 0 interest in adding Krell to our product portfolio before attending the Capitol Audio Fest we almost missed the room it was on the First floor in the back and it was VPI's room and we are not VPI dealers so it was almost a fluke that we even poked in. The huge Wilson Alex's were beckoning us in, so we decided to take a brief listen.

The sound in this room was mesmerizing, someone played Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side and there in three dimensions was Lou Reed and the three back up vocalisits, the sound was smooth, engaging, transparent, and has a sense of presence that made you take notice. 

So we started looking at the setup, VPI table $15k, Soundsmith cart $8k $110k Wilson speakers, lot of expensive Nordost Vallahalla or Odin but what was driving this insanely good sounding rig there in the bottom of the rack were two Krell 300XD amplifiers and a Krell preamp. 

Here was the best sound at this entire show, and the electronics were a fraction of the price of all of the other reference setups which were $80k monoblocs amplifers, $40k reference preamps and other such expensive gear. 

So we figured we would give the Krell a try part of the reason was logistics, powering our Paradigm Persona 9H is a $50k set of the phenominal T+A electronics from Germany, a $19.5K 300 Watt power amplifier, a $16.5 preamplifier and an optional outboard power supply at $13.5.

We have no issue with this gear it is incredible, however, we didn't have in this room a set or electronics which we thought would really give the T+A stuff a run for its money and yet be more affordable, so the Krell 300XD amp at $10,500 plus their Illusion 2 preamp/dac at $8k we thought would bring the price of doing a top notch system with the Personas down a bit in price and perhaps be a nice addition to our other electronics lines of T+A and Naim for top of the line solid state gear.

We hooked up the new Krell gear yesterday and even after only 24 hours of break in the sonic signature is very similar to what we heard at the Capital Audio Fest. 

The new Krell gear was liquid in the midrange, with nylon strings having the right type of roundness that makes acoustic guitar sound so right, tight well defined midbass, excellent rhythmic control, good top end extension with a slighly soft warm top end, and a big dimensional soundstage.

One of our questions is are there anyone on the boards who has this combo in particular the 300XD power amplifier and the illusion 2 preamp/dac we are currious to the affects of break in and how they improve. 

The sound after only 24 hours of initial plug in and break  in the gear is allready sounding ridiculous good how much better does it get and in what ways?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ  new Krell dealers




128x128audiotroy

Showing 4 responses by dep14

Well, suppose it’s a positive that you like a product you are going to carry and sell.  


I rarely critique posts, but it sure does seem Troy, that your posts fall into one of two categories.

1. Pure promotion

2. The (enter products) that you (poster) own, or are considering are “ok” but this product that we sell is better. So instead of answering the question in the post, you should consider buying this from us instead...

You carry lots of good brands, no question. But maybe focus on differences between yours and others as opposed to typically always positioning yours as better.

For instance, have you done a head to head with the 300xd and another amp, say a pass labs 250.8 on the same price range? How do they sound different? Does one have fans? (yes). Well I avoid fans if I can.  Are both good amps?   I’m sure they are.  How do they sound different... 




I'd like to hear/read some head to head listening impressions of the Krell vs other amps you carry, with everything else being the same.

I have zero issues if the "new" krell stuff sounds good, AND is reliable.  

I was offered a killer deal on the most recent Krell AV pre-pro, and amp a few years back.  It was really tempting.  But, there were huge issues people had with the AV pre-amp (tough to compete with the asian high volume MFG there in fairness), and some were reporting on the amps (plus I avoid fan cooled anything when I can).

But it would be great if it's good stuff, though I will pass on it due to the fans.

That said, would love head to heads on how it differs in sound from your other lines.  For instance why buy the T+A over the krell given cost differences etc.

I tend to take the view that above a certain price point, unless something is a POS, most of it is good stuff with slightly different flavors.

But even some of the XD impressions, particularly about the midrange, frankly make it sound like how I view Pass labs.  Slightly warm, a bit tube-like in the midrange. 

Heck, I really like a lot of what they are doing in their new integrated.
The K300i looks to be an interesting product, and possibly a nice value depending on street price.

That said, different look than the XD stuff, and.... no fans.

I'll be interested to see how long this XD stuff with the upgrade stays in the line-up, and when replaced if they continue to use fans in the line-up.