Krell 400xi Intergrated: Mini Review

LuSh

I've finally got it, and it's replaced a SimAudio i-5080. I'm pretty stoked so I decided to write a post then do a more detailed post in a week or so.

Just a prior history...My musical tastes are on the more aggressive side. I like hard and classic rock. To give you some perspective as to what I've listened to today only...Nirvana, Hole, Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack, Bjork, Portishead, Nine Inch Nails, Led Zeppelin and Radiohead.

I've had no amp for a week now, I had sold my SimAudio on Saturday night. Funny enough it was after a 4hr listening session after I had pulled my speakers way out from the wall, a buyer called me...came over and the deal was done. I had bought some good munchies and a case of beer just in case I could get my paw's on the Krell this Friday (It didn't =(. Well low and behold it was at the Post Office depot this morning (the Post Office didn't leave a sticker on my door, hence I checked this monring online and found it).

My main reason for buying this amp and selling the SimAudio was personal preference. I've done alot of research over the months. I know what sound I wanted it was just tough to figure out how to go about it. Do I change the speakers? The amp? The cables and tone controls? Well I went with the amp. I wanted to hear more dynamics, an big increase in lower frequency response. I wanted quicker razer sharp symbols when I listen to a nice drum solo. I wanted all this yet I wanted the amp to still be musical. I was tired of hearing slow bass, symbols that sounded like pasta hitting metal and a bloated mid-range.

The Krell 400xi after 2hrs seems to give me everything I want. The impact of the music is there. A real live presense, when things happen you stand up and listen. When a guitar makes a buzz it RIPS. And when I hear a guitar solo from Jimmy page I want to hear a guitar man gone wild, not a musical soother. My biggest fear with going to the Krell was it being unmusical. I was worried about shrills on vocals, sibilance on female vocals. Right out of the box this amp is very smooth, and has a much blacker background then the SimAudio. When I listened to Portishead Live at RoseLand Beth Gibbon's voice sprung out into the room, her range is impressive and I use to think the quality of the recording was bright. It wasn't. The SimAudio would choke on the most dynamic parts of the recording where as the Krell just goes and goes and goes. Beth Gibbon's voice soars.

The speaker terminals on the back of the 400xi are of very very high quality. My Audience speaker spades fit in perfectly, I have no idea who makes these speaker terminals (krell or a 3rd party company like Carda's) but I wish I had found them sooner. The fit and finish on this unit is top notch. Rounded edges, brushed aluminum. The volume control is a nice upgrade from my SimAudio as is the remote.

Is this the end of my musical journey? Not a chance, but I think i've found an amp that I can live with for another 2-5years. Having a home theatre bypass outlet allows for any desire to incorporate a home theatre receiver. I do intend to try an after market power cord on this unit. 4 power cords come to mind. Elrod EPS-3, Purist Audio, Micheal Wolf gain, DCCA.

RuSsMaN

Good write up. Carry on my hifi brother.

pjdami

Very cool Lush. I've owned my 400xi for about 1.5 years now I believe. Polkatease owns one too that he runs with his LSi 15s. I have mine set up in the home office with Dynaudio Contour 1.3mkII w/ Hsu STF2 sub and the Jolida JD100 cdp. Haven't changed anything in this setup except rolling some tubes in the Jolida its that good (to me).

I had a heck of a time finding anything that I liked running the Dynaudio Contour bookshelves. Rotel, B&K, my Rogue tube amp. All sounded kind of dry and dead. Then I bought a Plinius 9200 and sold it within 2 weeks after I got to audition the Krell in my house from the dealer for a weekend. In my opinion the Krell stomped the Plinius in dynamics and musical involvement. What is most amazing is that I prefer a "laid back" sound but the Plini / dyna combo was just "TOO" laid back and uninvolving. Rolling tubes in the Jolida I get to +2 / -2 db the treble to my liking like tone controls.

I noticed too that it sounded pretty good within an 1 hour or so straight out of the box when new. Maybe Krell breaks them in at the factory.

The 400xi is probably the most affordable and best sounding entry level amp Krell has put out.

dorokusai

I've always liked Krell, nice piece of gear Lush.

polkatese

Great write up, Lush! It's interesting to note that, since your music preference is on the opposite of mine (hard/classic rock vs. Jazz/some classical), and yet the 400xi delivers! Paul (pdjami) was the one that assured me back then that 400xi would be an amp to try. I am glad I did.

One question: I assumed you have the Krell paired with LSi9, what is your typical volume level on the dial? also, with no source on, at about 70-75 on the dial, did you hear a slight hum? Thanks.

LuSh

pjdami

- I have had the exact same experience as you in the past 24hrs. I like a laid back musical approach but the SimAudio would honest to god just plain bore me to death. It's funny you mentioned this because I talked to somebody on Audiogon that uses a Krell 400 with his PMC monitor's he also uses the same inteconnects as I do and once had a SimAudio intergrated. He suggested the same thing, boring, uninvolving. I would complain on drum solos because it sounded like the drummer was using wet noodles at points. Guitar solos were nice but didn't sparkle. That's all changed with this amp. In all fairness I haven't heard the SimAudio i-5 or any of their separates and I've been told by a number of people its a big step up.

I also noticed that the Krell sounded incredibly good after 1 hour out of the box. I'll be replacing the stock pc with an Elrod, Purist, Blue Circle down the road. Right now I just want to enjoy this amp and really put it through its paces. I've been playing music for about 12hrs in the last 24 heh.

polkatese

- I'm in a fairly small room. I usually have the dial up to about 50ish. I haven't had the volume near 70 with or without the souce on. Also remember I'm using a Museatex DAC/Transport and the internal gain could be alot different then your source player. People complain that the Krell house sound is unmusical, I think its quite the opposite. Music isn't always suppose to sound likes Rose Pedals and Sugar Cubes in some magical pixie land. At least the Krell is honest.

pjdami

I usually listen 35 - 50 on the volume. But I'm in a relatively small room 12 X 12 for the office. Never noticed any hum when used as an integrated. 70 on the volume would be way loud in this room!

I did notice once when I tried to use a tube preamp with the Krell as a stand alone amp that I got a low hum. Couldn't get rid of it but this was just a short experiment and I only tried it in one room. I use the Krell as an integrated amp now.

polkatese

Thanks, guys!

Paul, yeah, that's the reason I gave up the idea of pairing it with a tube pre-amp. I did it with Dodd MLP, and no matter what I did, the hum won't go away. What's interesting is, using it as an integrated, it's dead quiet, until about 70 on the clock, then it give slight distortion/hum. My typical listening level is between 30 to 55 (loud). My master bedroom (where the system is in) is rather large, 27 X 18, open space with a listening/sofa area in front of the system, and the bed on the other end of the wall. Anyways, no complain whatsoever with this combo, but I am anal , what can I say..

jmierzur

LuSh wrote:

pjdami

- I have had the exact same experience as you in the past 24hrs. I like a laid back musical approach but the SimAudio would honest to god just plain bore me to death. It's funny you mentioned this because I talked to somebody on Audiogon that uses a Krell 400 with his PMC monitor's he also uses the same inteconnects as I do and once had a SimAudio intergrated. He suggested the same thing, boring, uninvolving. I would complain on drum solos because it sounded like the drummer was using wet noodles at points. Guitar solos were nice but didn't sparkle. That's all changed with this amp. In all fairness I haven't heard the SimAudio i-5 or any of their separates and I've been told by a number of people its a big step up.

I can not recall ever having listened to any of the Simaudio integrated components, but the above does not begin to describe the characteristics of their seperates. Maybe one day you will have the chance to listen to the seperates.

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Glad to see you found something to satisfy your requirements.

Joey_V

Great piece..... looking at Krell 400xi to be the amp for my Martin Logan Vantage.... but I'm still tossing the idea of the Rotel RB1090. My ML dealer did give me an awesome deal for the $12000 Krell 400cx 2 channel super amp.... but I think I need to pass.

Joey

Peter J

Nice to hear that others are happi with the 400xi:)
I have a 400xi together with the SACD Standard and its a great combo. I play all kind of music such as jazz,blues,country, heavy metal and of course some opera and classical music.

My feature uppgrades are on the speakers, it would be nice to have a pair of Wilson Sophia or a Watt/puppy 6 or 7.

I have listen to several integreated amp and speaker setup and it isent many that have the same impact and dynamic sound as a Krell setup paired with Wilson speakers, the next best thing is Krell with naim audio speakers.
Wilson and naim audio puts music first and details second but they are wery good at that to.

Rock on!!

LuSh

jmierzur: You have the only system on this forum that I crave to listen too. Perhaps when im out west this September for work I can hook up. But honestly from an intergrated point of view, I'm happy with the Krell. Music is fun again.

joe6pak

That Krell intergrated is a nice amp. I auditioned a pair of Dynaudio C-3 speakers using that amp. They seemed to be a pretty good match. That intergrated amp has a lot of punch. I ended up buying the speakers with the Krell showcase pre and showcase 5 channel. Daynes and Krell are a good combo.

jmierzur

Hi Lush,

As I said before, I am glad you found something that brings you closer to your goal.

Any time work or family bring you out west, send me an email so we can arrange a time to get together. Who knows what I will have upgraded by September.