Strata-Gee: Showing Signs of Life, Krell Announces New COO
 

More news on Krell posted today:

Schofield's history has him starting at Cambridge Soundworks, then on to B&W, Linn, Harman (where he was in charge of Mark Levinson from April 2005 - May 2008), President of Meridian America, VP Sales and Marketing for Sound Solutions (Wharfedale, Avid HiFi and Solid Steel), Director of Sales at SVS, and for the past year VP of Global Strategy for Emotiva.

That sounds like good news. I wish them luck. I'd really like to get my hands on a Vanguard integrated someday.

Thanks for the post.

Cheers,

Scott

I wonder if Rondi D’Agostino, Dan's ex wife, is still the owner of Krell as she serves the brand as Managing Director?

The press release about Walter Schofield, the new Krell Industries COO, is the typical glowing banter presented to the public when administrative restructuring takes place. Walter's resume strikes me as someone who doesn't hang around all that long. Whether Krell ever manages to recapture the sales momentum of yesteryear's glory days remains to be seen. There is considerably more high-end manufacturing competition now than when Krell laid claim to being the high-end leader in audio. I suspect there's a lot of tarnish to be buffed off their reputation before audiophiles are once again willing to embrace the Krell brand as serious high-end audio gear. Time will ultimately reveal all. I wish them luck. It looks like they will need it.

Strata-Gee: Showing Signs of Life, Krell Announces New COO
 

It’s a tough road for all the reasons in business, but anythings possible, really depends on ones self.

Walter Schofield does have a long resume, but I see him as a person who can't keep a job. He'll be off somewhere else next year to "spend more time with his family."

I waited years to get tech support out of Krell but ultimately got nowhere. To drive the business forward they need to stop alienating existing customers. I won't buy another Krell product again.

I would agree with that; I've read too many tales on AVS Forum of users who have sent their Foundation surround processors to be fixed and it has taken Krell over one year to return them.

Forum reports can be a little misleading as its human nature to complain about an interpreted experience, but rarely give praise. Same applies to website product reviews.

I had a unit repaired at Krell (at no cost) about 9 months ago; it took about 6 weeks total, and they apologized for the delay. I followed the manufactures advice, purchased it from an authorized Krell dealer, and had the unit registered with Krell.

Ron

I've waited since about August 2015 for them to deal with my Krell Foundation issue. That is over 3 years now. Plenty of emails to and fro from PB but ultimately it went nowhere. And yes, my Foundation was purchased new by me from an authorized dealer.

...............and they were able to replicate your issue?
...............and they didn't honor their 5 year warranty? :scratch2:

Ron

There is a bug in the Foundation software that affects all units, not just mine. So exchanging mine for another doesn't fix the problem. They need to fix the software, they haven't done so. The problem is likely to be the handling of EDID/video interrupt reporting which doesn't comply with the HDMI spec causing DTS-HDMA and DolbyTrueHD bitstreams to play as silence. MPCM audio is not affected.

I also have a Krell Foundation 4K in another system and have not experience that. I do know you need Premium Certified 4K HDMI cables and sometimes discs are not always formatted correctly.

Ron

It has nothing to do with cables or disc formatting, trust me on that. It is system dependent. If you have a Lumagen Radiance Pro in-front of the Foundation 7.1 with DTS-HDMA or DolbyTrueHD audio, the Foundation will play silence. This is thought to be because the audio EDID reporting back from the Foundation is wrong or not implemented correctly (not HDMI spec compliant), causing the whole show to go whacky. The real problem is, Krell won't send a Foundation to Lumagen so they can work out what is wrong with the Foundation software.

Now that I understand it is only "system dependent" as you said, and not all users, I can understand your frustration.

These small hi-end manufacturers do not have the resources for the HDMI debacle. So called bugs effect people differently, but many ignore, because of the high sonic benefits.

Much manufacturer bashing on the internet is unjust, without hearing all the facts from both sides. Of course, that's only my opinion. :D

Happy Listening :music:
Ron

Lumagen offered to help Krell fix the software problem. Krell wasn't interested in fixing it.

The economic reality is not always to ones liking, and there are too many manufacturing variables involved with an evolving technology.

Manufactures and employees typically do the best they can, but can't please everyone. :tears: Everyone has room for improvement though.

I wish Krell the very best in the future and look forward to their coming products.............:thumbsup:

Ron

I find it difficult to accept Krell are doing the best they can when somebody else offers to help them fix a problem, and for free, but they don't accept.

I would think economics has something to do with it...........

Ron

So it's not economical for them to fix a software problem that is the subject of a customer complaint? Especially considering they were only up for $50-ish shipping to send a Foundation to Lumagen so they could analyse the problem.

Did you ever try contacting HDfury, as one of their products might be a work around fix?

Ron

And this out today:

No. I just want Krell to fix their own product. Rather than buy somebody else's product to fix it.

Why not contact Lumagen & see if they might be interested in using YOUR Krell unit to come up with a fix? Big win for everybody if they go for it.

I'm in Australia. If Krell don't want to help, it's easy for me. I just won't buy Krell again.

I can decode in the player, and that works. It just bugs me that bitstream doesn't work and Krell won't do anything to help.

It's not worth me spending $600+ on shipping for this if Krell not prepared to spend $50 on shipping at their end.

This thread should get back on track - Strata-Gee: Showing Signs of Life, Krell Announces New COO

I wish Krell all the best for their Future. :thumbsup:

Ron

And I just wish Krell would fix problems in the products they sell.

Goodbye :boring:

Ron

I got a message from Walter Schofield on another forum today, asking anyone having ongoing issues with Krell products (especially any units in for repair for ridiculous amounts of time) to reach out to him directly.

Question - have you verified that this problem exists when putting the Lumagen Radiance Pro in front of other HT Processors?

Another question. Why would you put the Radiance before the HT Processor? With all the scaling and processing that occurs, I would think you want this connected to the HT Processor output. You want the Krell to receiver the HDMI data as true to the source as possible, right?

Just a suggestion. I can understand that everyone has different requirements and you may, indeed, have a reason for putting the Radiance -before- the Krell.