Krell amp

[DanR]

Yes I’ll post some pics when I get it all hooked up and playing, it will be delivered on Tuesday. I’m getting everything prepped for it, I bought a new power cord and I’m not one to spend big money on power cords, I got a Pangea AC-9SE MkII Signature Edition cord, sounds impressive huh it’s a beast. And RobertD here’s a copy of the invoice for this amp when it went into George Meyer in L.A., the final bill was $1592

 

[DanR]

I should add this too RobertD some of these guys that do the real good work sure take their time but the end result the buyer said was worth every minute of the wait which was 5 months to do the work and get it back to him. As to the aspect of did it sound as good as it did new, the buyer had no way of knowing this as he didn’t have it from new he bought it used from the original owner and sent it to be overhauled. He did say this though “I worked for Mark Levinson for some years in the beginning of his company and I never heard any Levinson amp sound better than this one when I got it back”

 

[Robert D]

I should add this too RobertD some of these guys that do the real good work sure take their time but the end result the buyer said was worth every minute of the wait which was 5 months to do the work and get it back to him. As to the aspect of did it sound as good as it did new, the buyer had no way of knowing this as he didn’t have it from new he bought it used from the original owner and sent it to be overhauled. He did say this though “I worked for Mark Levinson for some years in the beginning of his company and I never heard any Levinson amp sound better than this one when I got it back”

Sounds exciting. Surely still a bargain for you because at today's prices youd not be able to get that Krell amp for what you spent I bet. Everything is priced insane now after Covid and the crazy inflation we have now.

What you did is something I would surely consider doing myself. For now I am set though. I plan on building a new home theater someday and thats when I will make the move to change things up.

 

[DanR]

Yes I was looking at the new Krell amps and what I was interested in was well over twice what I paid for this amp, and from the high res pics of it there isn’t a scratch on it. Now hopefully I won’t have to buy another air conditioning unit to keep the room cool in the summer time

 

[DanR]

And I'm sure there are people out there saying well if it’s such a good amp why is he selling it. Well I wondered that same thing. Here’s the simple answer, the seller and his wife are moving out of California to Scottsdale Arizona and like he said, with the heat this amp puts out it just isn’t reasonable to try and keep a house cool in that climate. Plus there is this, while this amp was in being serviced he invested in a Bel Canto based system and said it sounds fabulous and like he said it is many times more than the cost of the Krell so it better. I looked at Bel Canto amps and they are way out of my budget range.

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

How much does a full rebuild for that amp cost? Once rebuilt, is it as good as new? I have zero experience. I'd have to pay someone to do the work.

Hard to say for sure, but Krell amps have a lot of parts and I hear about people sending them back to the factory and having all the caps and resistors replaced. I imagine that's not a cheap service bill.

 

[DanR]

Look 6 replies up Brandon and that is a copy of the invoice for the work. Itwas completed 1 year ago. In my search for an amp i found the Krell KSA100mkII amps are running about $2000-$2400 for an original parts untouched amp. Now these amps are 40 years old and produce a lot of heat so I figured I had two ways to go either get an original factory condition amp for the lower cost ($2000-$2400) and have it overhauled for a total of $3600-$4000. The amp I bought was $4100 total with shipping at 104lbs. I called George Meyer AV who did the overhaul and had a great conversation. I was assured this amp meets all factory specs, they also said that ANY class A amp that is 40 years old is far over due for an overhaul now, they don’t last forever, and if they are still operational now it’s a great statement as to the quality of the original build. I’m looking so forward to getting this amp in my system and hearing it, hopefully all goes well, we will see. The history of these KAA 100 amps is so cool, they were essentially hand built by Dan D’Agostino a few at a time and delivered to dealers and the money for them was used to build a few more over and over, what a cool beginning for a company. So yep the KSA 100 amp is what started the whole Krell business.

 

[DanR]

Ok the amp got here this morning and it travelled very well from CA to MI thank you for that UPS you’re the best around here by far.
Now I’ve only been listening to the amp in my system for about 4 hours now and one thing is abundantly clear to me, this is one of the best if not the best decision I’ve ever made in my quest for great sound (to me). The thing that jumped right out at me immediately was wow this is how I’ve wanted my music to sound like from my speakers in a long long time. It just sounds RIGHT! I now GET IT. No other combination I’ve had over this 20 some odd year quest has sounded anywhere close to this and I’ve had quite a few amp/preamp phono/phono preamp pieces in this system as well as different speakers including a pair of Ascent i Logans (wife’s favorites) The craziest part of this so far is that this is not anywhere near the cost as some of the other pieces that did not make the cut. Another totally stellar thing is this amplifier is 41 years old and there is no a mark anywhere on it, I am shocked. The other major concern I had was whether or not my tube preamp would match up well with this amp. A big thank you to Bob Backert of Backert labs this Rhumba 1.3 fits right into this system beautifully. So there is the basic report seeing as how old man winter has decided to come back to Michigan for this week after a weekend of 80s I’ll be putting some hours in and give a more detailed report at the end of the week. Here’s what I’ve listened to today
James Taylor Sweet Baby James
Some Hendrix in the West
Both streamed
Norah Jones Come away with Me
Neil Young Carnegie Hall
Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony
Stones Let it Bleed
Alan Parsons Project I Robot
Every one of them sounded fantastic!

 

[DanR]

Here’s a couple pics of the amp in the system

 

[Robert D]

The original owner of that amp has probably passed away, and you're carrying on the legacy. My Prodigy speakers were owned by a renown oncologist in my area, that ironically passed away from cancer. The family had an online auction online, and proceeds went to cancer research. Everything But The House | EBTH

I'm glad to have the speakers and keep them going strong. With new panels now they sound great.

 

[DanR]

That is a cool story Robert, and the Prodigy speakers are a seriously good speaker!

 

[Robert D]

About how much does that amp weigh your think? I bet it is very substantial! Congrats on a great piece.

 

[DanR]

The shipping weight was 104lbs, so I’m guessing about 90lbs. Sure felt like it too getting it on the amp stand.

 

[Robert D]

Found this piece on your amp! Looks like you snagged a great one.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/krell-ksa-100-stereo-amplifier

 

[DanR]

Here’s a little history on the KSA 100 Robert

 

[DanR]

RobertD, do you live here in the states?? If so what part of the country?

 

[Robert D]

RobertD, do you live here in the states?? If so what part of the country?

Yes. I live in South West Ohio.

 

[andrew.hendler]

I ordered a Pass Int 60 in early March and was told May/June by my dealer. This makes me slightly concerned though. Should check in with him to see a status.

Anyhow, in the interim he's loaned me a Krell Vanguard. I think it sounds pretty good with the 13As. I can only imagine the upline Krell sounds better. I figured I would have a huge drop off while I awaited the Pass, and I don't feel that way. I hadn't demoed it when I initially listened to the 13As, instead I heard various amps in the Pass line, some McIntosh, Mark Levinson, Rogue - etc. But this has many of the characteristics I liked about the pass: liquid, smooth and with a hint of warmth. Of course, I haven't gotten to compare the Pass side by side with it, at home in my room.

 

[Robert D]

So is $12,000 the going rate for this new Krell amp? This is the 3 channel version, didn't see the 2 online. Just curious about pricing compared to Pass. Seems about the same.

https://hifiheaven.net/shop/Krell-Duo-300-XD-2-Channel-Power-Amp-with-iBias-Tech

 

[ttocs]

I don't know about the Duo 300XD, but this one is $35,000.
Krell KSA-i400 40th Anniversary model.