Hey guys,
I sent my krell duo 300 back for the XD upgrade on dec 7 and it was returned by Christmas, as promised by Patrick B in the krell service tech dept, on the 20th.
Let me go right to the conclusion: In my system,I believe that the XD upgrade was worthwhile.
I'll be honest. I took a gamble. I've used the combination of krell amps, martin logan speakers, meridian cd players and tubed preamps for the last three decades. That is my comfort zone type of system and sound.
I haven't sampled many different different brands of amps. In my area , dealers seem to push Mac so choices are limited. Mac is a little too relaxed for me.
Initially ,before I heard of the upgrade, I thought this amp was"good" but I did get the bug to maybe try ARC or PASS.
Then I got word of the upgrade. I felt if I got an improved sound as promised for the $1400 (incl shipping) then I would be actually saving money from trading in my amp and rebuying a new amp. That surely would have cost thousands. And there was no guarantee THAT would have been worth it.
Anyway, my thoughts.
I really was bracing myself for a disappointment. When I reconnected the amp I expected to struggle and really have to focus and concentrate to hear what they did.
That was not the case. I heard "a difference " in a matter of seconds.
I hear more depth, more "natural sound" of instruments and many of my familiar recordings are revealing a few surprises.
As I was listening, I actually felt that THIS is the way the amp should have been in the first place!
Is it dramatic? No but definitely noticeable. I really do enjoy the amp more.
I feel it is not a warm fuzzy tubey amp. But,it is very revealing, dynamic, handles low impedances very well, has tons of power. I can listen with no fatigue.
I would never push anyone to spend money. This is my personal circumstance and we all have different audio systems.
In summary, IMHO,a good amp got better. I think the upgrade scratched my itch. And in the long run it actually saved me some scratch.
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