Krell Phantom

[Volks]

Originally Posted by Still-One

Finishing up an afternoon of listening with the Phantom II. So far I am not finding that there is a night and day difference between the C-1000 and the Phantom II, nor did I expect there would be. So far I think the Krell unit presents the bottom end with more heft. I am trying to hear if there is any loss in detail.

Jim

Jim is it to early to tell if you find it more or less transparent then the C-1000?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by Volks

Jim is it to early to tell if you find it more or less transparent then the C-1000?

Michael
It is hard to tell. Audio memory is very short. In a day or so I will swap back to see what differences I might be able to hear.

In general I would say I could easily live with this unit.


Jim

[Still-One]

I after having the Krell Phantom II in my system for almost a week I reinserted the C-1000 this morning. As I noted in an earlier post comparing pre-amps is much more difficult than other components such as CD players or servers where you can just select different inputs and not have the delays of cable swapping.

Bottom line, for me there is no clear winner here. Disregarding visual preferences I can see where individuals would side with one or the other. From by listening sessions I think the Krell offers a more detailed presentation while the Mac's might be a bit more musical. The Phantom II seemed to get the bass right while the C-1000 rounded the notes a bit.

I would be happy with either in my system. If my C-1000 sells I might go with the Krell and put a few bucks in my pocket to save for other upgrades. If not I will continue to consider other options such as the Playback Designs MPS-5, the Wadia System 9 or Dan D'Agostino's long delayed pre-amp.

I have kept this demo unit long enough and will be returning it to Paragon on Monday.

Jim

[VPN]

I looked for a new preamp for a long time to replace the Levinson 380S I had. I listened to several preamps in my system, such as the Dartzeel 18NS, Krell KCT, VTL 7.5 series 3, Audiopax Model 5 SE, among others. Then I listened to the Krell Phantom, and it was better than that other preamps in every aspect or at least equal to the best in each aspect.

As good as the VTL 7.5. series 3 in terms of high frequencies, better than the Krell KTC in the lows, overall did not lose to any other in any aspect. Very dinamic, very transparent. For my taste (disclaimer) clearly superior to the other preamps.

I bought the Krell Phantom (black, 220V as recommended by the dealer) and I am super happy with it.

Cheers,

VPN