Went ahead and pulled the trigger!!!!

soundfreak1

Picking up a Krell KAV-250a amp tomorrow! Hot damn! May not be able to sleep tonight in antisapation.
And FYI my modded HCA 1200 parasound may be up for sale on sunday! Will report (with picts ) sunday or monday on thr Krell.

Tried to edit title, it wont let me. Im too damn excited and cant Type worth a crap. LMAO!

polkfarmboy

soundfreak1 wrote: »

Picking up a Krell KAV-250a amp tomorrow! Hot damn! May not be able to sleep tonight in antisapation.
l.

Many have said its a real grainy amp and quite harsh. What made you choose that out of all them amps out there? One solution for this amp is a tube preamp.

soundfreak1

From all my research, those that said "they are grainy or bright" were using the 250p preamp it can be unforgiving to poor sources also but the amp is far from bright or grainy i will be listening tomorrow on my Perreaux SA33 and i dont think that will be an issue. But i will find out tomorrow. The friend that im getting it from played it on a couple of MAC pre's and says not bright at all , very smooth clean and frightning! Will also be testing it on my RTA 12c'S. So we will see!

cnh

Be careful, be very very careful. And for God's sake DON'T FALL ASLEEP while listening to KRELL machines!

Dr. Edward Morbius: To what purpose?

Commander John J. Adams: In return, that ultimate machine would instantaneously project solid matter to any point on the planet, In any shape or color they might imagine. For *any* purpose, Morbius! Creation by mere thought.

Dr. Edward Morbius: Why haven't I seen this all along?

Commander John J. Adams: But like you, the Krell forgot one deadly danger - their own subconscious hate and lust for destruction.

Dr. Edward Morbius: The beast. The mindless primitive! Even the Krell must have evolved from that beginning.

Commander John J. Adams: And so those mindless beasts of the subconscious had access to a machine that could never be shut down. The secret devil of every soul on the planet all set free at once to loot and maim. And take revenge, Morbius, and kill!

Dr. Edward Morbius: My poor Krell. After a million years of shining sanity, they could hardly have understood what power was destroying them.

cnh

soundfreak1

cnh wrote: »

Be careful, be very very careful. And for God's sake DON'T FALL ASLEEP while listening to KRELL machines!

Dr. Edward Morbius: To what purpose?

Commander John J. Adams: In return, that ultimate machine would instantaneously project solid matter to any point on the planet, In any shape or color they might imagine. For *any* purpose, Morbius! Creation by mere thought.

Dr. Edward Morbius: Why haven't I seen this all along?

Commander John J. Adams: But like you, the Krell forgot one deadly danger - their own subconscious hate and lust for destruction.

Dr. Edward Morbius: The beast. The mindless primitive! Even the Krell must have evolved from that beginning.

Commander John J. Adams: And so those mindless beasts of the subconscious had access to a machine that could never be shut down. The secret devil of every soul on the planet all set free at once to loot and maim. And take revenge, Morbius, and kill!

Dr. Edward Morbius: My poo

r Krell. After a million years of shining sanity, they could hardly have understood what power was destroying them.

cnh

LMAO. Maybe That was the "Freightening" part he was refering to.

polkfarmboy

cnh wrote: »

Be careful, be very very careful. And for God's sake DON'T FALL ASLEEP while listening to KRELL machines!

Dr. Edward Morbius: To what purpose?

Commander John J. Adams: In return, that ultimate machine would instantaneously project solid matter to any point on the planet, In any shape or color they might imagine. For *any* purpose, Morbius! Creation by mere thought.

Dr. Edward Morbius: Why haven't I seen this all along?

Commander John J. Adams: But like you, the Krell forgot one deadly danger - their own subconscious hate and lust for destruction.

Dr. Edward Morbius: The beast. The mindless primitive! Even the Krell must have evolved from that beginning.

Commander John J. Adams: And so those mindless beasts of the subconscious had access to a machine that could never be shut down. The secret devil of every soul on the planet all set free at once to loot and maim. And take revenge, Morbius, and kill!

Dr. Edward Morbius: My poor Krell. After a million years of shining sanity, they could hardly have understood what power was destroying them.

cnh

Lmao :twisted:

soundfreak1

i will have "Robbie" stand guard!

tonyb

Congrats man, I guarantee you that Parasound will be hitting the FM shortly.

soundfreak1

tonyb wrote: »

Congrats man, I guarantee you that Parasound will be hitting the FM shortly.

You were tony! This krell is a beautiful sounding amp.Clean, crisp ( not "brittle at all ) and very linear and accurate. Every note can be reconized on its own very pronounced and pretty and refined! First analogy that comes to mind ( between the parasound and the krell) is like the diff between Ken Norton and Ali, Norton was powerfull, skilled and would keep comming at you, Ali was more refined and would "float like a buterfly and sting like a bee".LOL. This is not to say the krell is better than the "modded " hca 1200 just very diff and more refined. Funny that it took roughly 3 x the money to top the parasound but my taste in reproduction is changing with age and music. I listen to more accoustic jazz that rock now ( guess im getting old ) vocals sound as if they are in the room singing to me horns and keyboards sound so real as to be live in my room! So yes the 1200 may indeed come avaiable . May have to think about it however ( been my main for 4 years and for good reason ,i still love it!

pearsall001

I had the same amp a few yrs back...my impressions were exactly as yours. Great amp & not bright at all! Congrats & enjoy.

soundfreak1

Thanks pearsall this "brightness" ive heard about this amp I THINK is related to the choice of preamps, even the parasound could sound bright on some. SS pre's ive had stuff like crown and some adcoms. But my current pre has none of those issues, its class a seems so right for the krell with a great phono sec. Still getting used to the krell but at this point the 1200 is no longer on the main rig.

megasat16

Although there is nothing wrong with KAV-250a. I would unload it for KSA or KMA series or MDA or FPB series.

I spotted KSA-100 on Agon for quite a reasonable price. Oldie but real Class A. A pain to fix it it broke though. Sending it back to Krell is the most likely the only way to fix any Krell stuff.

But yeah, the KAV will sound nothing like KSA.

Congrats and Enjoy your new amp for now!

soundfreak1

Only prob with what you suggust mega is they will cost 4/5 (or) times the price.

megasat16

soundfreak1 wrote: »

Only prob with what you suggust mega is they will cost 4/5 (or) times the price.

Yes for some bigger amps. But you checked the price of the KSA-100 on the gon? It can't be 4 or 5 times what you paid for the KAV-250A?

If you paid KAV-250a for 1/4 or 1/5 of the the price of the KSA-100 on the gon, I guess you scroed BIG TIME.

Time to celebrate and pull out a cold one from the fridge!

soundfreak1

megasat16 wrote: »

Yes for some bigger amps. But you checked the price of the KSA-100 on the gon? It can't be 4 or 5 times what you paid for the KAV-250A?

If you paid KAV-250a for 1/4 or 1/5 of the the price of the KSA-100 on the gon, I guess you scroed BIG TIME.

Time to celebrate and pull out a cold one from the fridge!

I will have the 1500.00 in it once re-done (caps, risistors, fuses ect.)

megasat16

Looking from your sig, I know you enjoy mods.

I think you are quite a distance from the KSA-100 (in NY) because you are in FL. Otherwise, I would highly encourage for the switch if you live local to that amp.

soundfreak1

I will enjoy the kav for awhile and im sure that damn bug will bit again! LOL. I know this journey isnt complete.! For me it not the destany but the journey that makes it worthwhile!

SCompRacer

Congrats on your amp!

megasat16 wrote: »

Sending it back to Krell is the most likely the only way to fix any Krell stuff.

They have tight control over the schematics. $60 per hour plus parts IIRC when I called about my KSL phono board problem. Fortunately I struggled through and fixed that. There are some schematics for sale on ebay, but not for the KSA. There are some folks over at diyaudio that own one or multiple KSA-250's that could be helpful. It is a very complex design.

Some KSA-250 ****....my A/B Sanders off to the left.

soundfreak1

Krell **** is right (gave me a woody) LOL krell just quoted me 125.00/hr, but i am very fortunate as i have a best friend that just happens to be a simi- retired MAC tech and he takes care of all my vintage equip. Krell will sell him the parts as he still maintains a shop and he can do all the work,l He does fantastic work. He has done all my vintage stuff for me! He's been working on this stuff since before it was "vintage"!

SCompRacer

It's good to have your BF as a repair source!

Maybe the phono board sent in separately is repaired under a different rate. I was told it would take around two hours, or $120. That was around January 2013. I only had $700 invested in the KSL pre amp with KSL phono board and didn't want to put that much in it. I have a lot more than two hours in it though...

The downside of that KSA-250 amp is the constant 12 amp current draw and the radiant heat geneated; 172F at the sinks. It will add heat to an enclosed space so a large room is best.

soundfreak1

SCompRacer wrote: »

It's good to have your BF as a repair source!

Maybe the phono board sent in separately is repaired under a different rate. I was told it would take around two hours, or $120. That was around January 2013. I only had $700 invested in the KSL pre amp with KSL phono board and didn't want to put that much in it. I have a lot more than two hours in it though...

The downside of that KSA-250 amp is the constant 12 amp current draw and the radiant heat geneated; 172F at the sinks. It will add heat to an enclosed space so a large room is best.

Its sitting in open rack by Bello so heat shouldnt be a factor.

megasat16

SCompRacer wrote: »

Congrats on your amp!




They have tight control over the schematics. $60 per hour plus parts IIRC when I called about my KSL phono board problem. Fortunately I struggled through and fixed that. There are some schematics for sale on ebay, but not for the KSA. There are some folks over at diyaudio that own one or multiple KSA-250's that could be helpful. It is a very complex design.

Some KSA-250 ****....my A/B Sanders off to the left.

Nice guts shots! KSA-50, 100, 250 and 300 all shares the same chassis with minor modifications to the handles.

The later 3 models have a lot more power and more transistors packed into the small space and thus generating a lot more heat than the first two similar ones.

So, there will be owners requiring more service attention who uses them a lot. And some people tends to leave their Class A amp ON all the time proclaiming that it sounds better that way?

My gripe with amps such as Krell and Levinson is that the overly complicated design and a lot of gain stages. I once owned a Levinson 335 and had to recap it because the factory defeats in the caps that Levinson put in them.

Other than that, it's pretty stable amps that will drive anything with ease. I bet Krell amps are pretty reliable once they are serviced. I expect the service and maintenance interval like every 10-15 years for the KSA series given their age and usage.

And I think what Krell charges for service and parts is more reasonable than what Levinson asks from their customers seeking service. Most people I heard are very happy with Krell service.

SCompRacer

Good amp placement! Nice rack, I had a Bello at one time.

megasat16 wrote: »

Nice guts shots!

Thanks!

Krell said 15 minutes in the manual but IMO about an hour at least before it starts to stabilize. I couldn’t afford to leave it on all the time! It’s powering some Revels right now, very well I might add. This one is the third and final higher bias revision. Aside from the age of age of caps, some things to watch for are heat damage from soft start resistor on power up PCB, DC offset due to servo issues, loose screws on output transistors and loose signal path screws between main input PCB and output heatsink.

This is a great short video of a KSA-250 3rd revision recap with soft start resistor upgrade and relocation. The one I popped apart was beautiful on the inside, showed little use. Caps looked like new.

http://youtu.be/Ng3RlJb1SsU

soundfreak1

SCompRacer wrote: »

Good amp placement! Nice rack, I had a Bello at one time.



Thanks!

Krell said 15 minutes in the manual but IMO about an hour at least before it starts to stabilize. I couldn’t afford to leave it on all the time! It’s powering some Revels right now, very well I might add. This one is the third and final higher bias revision. Aside from the age of age of caps, some things to watch for are heat damage from soft start resistor on power up PCB, DC offset due to servo issues, loose screws on output transistors and loose signal path screws between main input PCB and output heatsink.

This is a great short video of a KSA-250 3rd revision recap with soft start resistor upgrade and relocation. The one I popped apart was beautiful on the inside, showed little use. Caps looked like new.

http://youtu.be/Ng3RlJb1SsU

Thanks i will send to my tech. It takes about 30+-min to warm up but well worth it. I know i will be doing caps, the risistors amd fuses any other ideas would be usefull
thanks