sound downgrade

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by amir, Sep 6, 2005.

  1. amir

    amir

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    i have krell 300il
    for first 10 min it sounds cold but after 30 min it sounds open, natural and airy but after 60 min when i turn up volume sound loss air and krell sound forward and fatigue.
    do i think right about krell or problem come from another way!
    if problem be from 300il can i solve it by upgrading to 2250 power?
    Thanks

    setup :
    accuphase dp-55v
    van den hul the second
    krell 300il
    monster m1.2s speaker cable
    dynaudio 82
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 6, 2005
    amir, Sep 6, 2005
    #1
  2. amir

    Tenson Moderator

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    When you turn it down again does it sound good? It might be that turning it up pushes it a bit hard forcing it into class b operation?
     
    Tenson, Sep 6, 2005
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  3. amir

    amir

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    no
    sound don't change with volume up/down.
    hifichoice review about 300il say this fact but i am not sure because our mail AC is not clean.
     
    amir, Sep 6, 2005
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  4. amir

    anon_bb Honey Badger

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    Hmm sounds like my experience listening to krell. Sounds like it is warming up and passing through an intermediate stage before settling into equilibiruim a bit off song. The design maybe needs some tweaking.

    IMHO krell has a somewhat forward and fatiguing house sound as you have said. I dont think upgrading within the range will solve that.

    What is the rest of your system?
     
    anon_bb, Sep 6, 2005
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  5. amir

    alexs2

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    With Class A Krells,they do go through a period of sounding hard before everything loosens up a bit and the sound opens out once the amp is warm.....yours however has a Class A driver stage,and conventional Class A/B output stages,and thus what you describe initially could be put down to the Class A driver section of that amp warming up,but the problem after 60mins does sound odd.

    The older KMAs start off sounding pretty shut in and hard,but improve dramatically once up to temperature(60-80C).

    As to the Krell "house sound",I've not found any to sound fatiguing,except perhaps some of the KSA-S series,and the old KST,which wasn't a good amp at all.
    None of them are forgiving of source shortcomings,which often leads people to describe them as hard or fatiguing....again on that front,you have a very good Accuphase as your source,so that shouldnt be a problem either.

    Being fair to all,the Krell 300 amps were designed as part of the KAV series,and as such make an excellent value,and very high powered integrated amp,plus one of the few that can double its output into 4ohms,and tolerate nasty loads,but I would not say that subtlety is one of it's greatest strengths,although it is a very good integrated.
     
    alexs2, Sep 6, 2005
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  6. amir

    SteveC PrimaLuna is not cheese

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    When you say 2250, the only bit you need to add is that it should be Linn 2250, a nice amp :)
     
    SteveC, Sep 6, 2005
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  7. amir

    anon_bb Honey Badger

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    I hope its better than the linn amp I heard a year back - flat as a pancake. Dont know which one it was.
     
    anon_bb, Sep 6, 2005
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  8. amir

    alexs2

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    I think with the Krell 2250/3250 power amps,whilst you'll get a very powerful multichannel amp,you'll also be getting more of the same or similar sound to your 300iL,as it is still from the same basic family,albeit with current mode circuitry.

    If you did want to improve significantly in all areas,you may be better advised to consider a Class A Krell,such as one of the FPB series(not cheap,certainly,but very good by anyone's standards)or one of the older KMA amps if you can find one....the KAS-2 is also a superb amp,and beginning to appear on the used market here and there.

    Perhaps it's also worth asking what you would be prepared to spend,as there are a lot of very good power amps to bring into the equation depending on price.
     
    alexs2, Sep 6, 2005
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  9. amir

    anon_bb Honey Badger

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    Indeed that is the question.

    Will you consider 2nd hand?
     
    anon_bb, Sep 6, 2005
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  10. amir

    spxy

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    Guys theres so many posable reasons for the sound being harsh that its madness to suggest changing amps, before trying out other options.

    At least check.
    Speaker situated properly.
    Speakers solid , not rocking bolts not loose.
    Rack not rocking.
    Connections clean and tight.
    Room has no loose glass surfaces.
    Is the room sparcely furnished?
    How low are you playing?
    Are speakers and amp a good match?
    Is the amp just revealing a harsh sounding CD player?
    Have the speakers got NO bass?

    The list goes on..
     
    spxy, Sep 6, 2005
    #10
  11. amir

    alexs2

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    It was the OP asking about different amps.

    The Accuphase is certainly not a harsh player.
    Also,the OP describes a sound character that changes over time,which excludes most,if not all of the suggestions there,as none of those are actually changing at the time.

    The change in character of some Krell amps as they warm up is well known,as with many other amps,and my comments were not as much suggesting a change in amps,but intended to avoid the OP simply getting more of the same by changing to a more powerful but similar sounding amp.
     
    alexs2, Sep 6, 2005
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  12. amir

    Tenson Moderator

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    Have you tried leaving it on? My system doesn't give its full potential until at least 3 hours have gone by. I generally say half a day to warm up lol!

    Don't misunderstand me though, it sounds good after 15min but after 3 or more hours it sounds even better so I'd suggest leaving the Krell on for say 6 hours then having a listen.
     
    Tenson, Sep 6, 2005
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  13. amir

    anon_bb Honey Badger

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    I think its just the way krell sounds. Doubtless at some point after switch on when it sounds best some part which is not fully warmed up is softening the sound.
     
    anon_bb, Sep 6, 2005
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  14. amir

    alexs2

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    I'd have to say you may not have heard a Class A Krell performing at it's best....I'm not a fan of the KSA-S amps,or a few of the earlier FPBs,but the old KMAs and new FPBs aren't harsh,although they are revealing.

    It certainly is true that the KAV amps are not the best that Krell make...nor should they be given the market they are designed for,but they do offer good power and value.
     
    alexs2, Sep 6, 2005
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  15. amir

    anon_bb Honey Badger

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    I dont recall which krell it was. Other than it was the very top of the range model about ten years ago. It was a full krell sonus faber system costing prob £100K. Any idea which model it would have been?
     
    anon_bb, Sep 6, 2005
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  16. amir

    alexs2

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    If each amp was a 2 box item with separate PSU and amp sections,and a meter on the front,then it was a KAS...that needed serious warm-up times.
     
    alexs2, Sep 6, 2005
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  17. amir

    anon_bb Honey Badger

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    Didnt look that close. It had been on all day. 30K power amp?
     
    anon_bb, Sep 6, 2005
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  18. amir

    greg Its a G thing

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    I would also add that I have heard repeated recommendations regards the KAV-300 variants saying avoid the KAV-300il in favour of the 300i.

    Not saying this would or wouldnt solve your problem though.
     
    greg, Sep 6, 2005
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  19. amir

    Anex Thermionic

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    Amir: Don't take this the wrong way but do you think you'll ever be happy with anything? You always seem to find something wrong and want to upgrade. Maybe a whole new direction is needed. Tubes and a TT or something
     
    Anex, Sep 6, 2005
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  20. amir

    SteveC PrimaLuna is not cheese

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    So that counts as a free snide remark then
     
    SteveC, Sep 6, 2005
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