Krell s300i

[Apexorca]

Originally Posted by Bavarian05

Some thought many of Krells other amps sounded thin

I'm glad you like it.

Thin is not the average opinion of Krell that I heard of. "The excellent, dynamic and powerful bas" is more common.

[brazil-nut]

I just bought a S300i to satisfy a curiosity and compared to my Primaluna Dialogue 2 amp I am a little disappointed...
Maybe at higher volumes it really shines, but at 25-30% of max volume I found the S300i very light sounding. Neutral, yes. Exciting, no.
I was expecting more of the Krell signature bass and I tried cd after cd and it wasn't there in a way that I was used to with the KMA-160's I owned a little while back.
I know, you can't compare power house mono blocks with a small integrated.
Even comparing it with the Primaluna amp it didn't really excite me.

Perhaps it is my own fault, expecting too much. Don't get me wrong, for a $1,750 amp it sounds great and very versatile with the input options etc.

[Bavarian05]

Originally Posted by brazil-nut

I just bought a S300i to satisfy a curiosity and compared to my Primaluna Dialogue 2 amp I am a little disappointed... Maybe at higher volumes it really shines, but at 25-30% of max volume I found the S300i very light sounding. Neutral, yes. Exciting, no. I was expecting more of the Krell signature bass and I tried cd after cd and it wasn't there in a way that I was used to with the KMA-160's I owned a little while back. I know, you can't compare power house mono blocks with a small integrated. Even comparing it with the Primaluna amp it didn't really excite me. Perhaps it is my own fault, expecting too much. Don't get me wrong, for a $1,750 amp it sounds great and very versatile with the input options etc.

I have found the same thing. Neutral, but a bit boring. Needs a bit better pace and a bit more richness.

[Venere]

You might consider auditioning whichever Hegel amp fits your needs and budget. The integrateds have onboard DAC which eliminates the need for interconnects and really lifted a veil in my system even with their least expensive amp. And killer bass due to very low output impedence and high damping factor. Great sound for the money at every price point i think.

[brazil-nut]

Venere: thanks for the tip. I have had my eyes on Hegel for a while, but never got to pull the trigger.